Just look at the number of General and Flag officers in the military, relative to the total personnel. That will give you an idea just how bloated the US military is.
Some of them are as bad as rappers with the size of their posses.
There are way too many generals commanding desks at the Pentagon, slots that could be handled by Colonels and LT Cols. I have my bias in that regard. I filled a LT Col's spot for 18 months as a Captain with barely a year time in grade.
A bit of a caveat, though. The Colonel who put me in that slot was my last Battalion Commander in Germany, and I was his S-4 (as a 1st LT) for his last 18 months in command, while he led our battalion from a C-3 to a C-1.
By the time we both returned to the States, I could often predict what he wanted done.