How to Squander Pentagon Funds: Employ Way Too Many Generals

[AnotherMcIntosh]

The frollowing is By Dina Rasor, Truthout | Solutions:

"... studies that I started years ago show that there are way too many generals for troops, planes and ships and these generals also make sure that their turf and positions are protected. They are costing us far more than their high salaries, retirements and perks; they are using their positions to protect the status quo in the military.
...
"So, how many military brass do we have compared to past years? We have the most ever since World War II. In 1982, when I was running the Project on Military Procurement, one of my sources suggested to me that I do research on how many top officers we had for our troops, planes and ships. My report showed a steady increase since World War II, especially since the number of planes and ships were decreasing due to cost, while the number of generals were increasing. Over the years, my former organization, now known as the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) (for full disclosure, I am on POGO's board of directors and serve as treasurer), has redone the report several times, and the brass continues to grow as we get fewer and fewer weapons. The biggest growth was with three- and four-star generals, which POGO has dubbed "star creep." POGO's Ben Freeman recently testified to the Congress in September on how bad the problem had gotten. From his testimony:

"The three- and four-star ranks have increased twice as fast as one- and two-star general and flag officers, three times as fast as the increase in all officers and almost ten times as fast as the increase in enlisted personnel. If you imagine it visually, the shape of U.S. military personnel has shifted from looking like a pyramid to beginning to look more like a skyscraper (i.e. higher ranks having fewer lower ranking personnel under them rather than more)....

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/5920:the-pentagons-biggest-overrun-way-too-many-generals

Even if a great many of these generals retire, they will be richly paid for their retirments. Some, maybe all of them, will then profit by helping governmental contractors get more war-related contracts.

[MichiganVote]

1. This is just another way elites skim from the top. We don't need all these Generals.

[byeya]

2. It's my understanding that we have more Admirals and Generals now then we did in WW2

when there were approximately 12 million men and women in the armed forces.

I would like to know, considering all the perks, how much per year we pay for an effing 3 star general.

[Incitatus]

3. It looks like we have more admirals and generals than military bases and ships.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Realize the ratio of troops vs officers

Does not take into account Mercs, who are even worst at squandering funds