ANZAC Day ADF topic--bloat

The ratio of civilians to military in the Australian Entrenched Defence Bureaucracy (EDB) is not good.

Civilian count is around 21~22k. While cuts have been proposed, they are not enough.

Military personnel numbers are as follows:

Besides the civilian service bloat, look at all this top-rank dead weight.

So where do we get some inspiration for trimming this nonsense?

Cdr Salamander has an idea. The Italians.

"We currently have 183,000 soldiers and 30,000 civilians in defence. We will gradually bring that down to 150,000 soldiers and 20,000 civlians, with a reduction of around 43,000," Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola said. "This target can be achieved in a decade with a 20-percent or 30-percent reduction in hirings, transfers to other civil service jobs and temporary work options," Di Paola told lawmakers at a defence committee hearing. The number of admirals and generals would also be reduced by "more than 30 percent" from the 425 currently in service, Di Paola said.

And, how much of the now $27B per year budget spent by the EDB delivers real combat value?

Too many GOFOs and SES

The U.S. military has become significantly smaller since the end of the Cold War.

So why do we have a significant increase in General Officer/Flag Officer (GOFO) slots in the DOD? Why do we have a significant increase in civilian Senior Executive Service (SES) slots the DOD?

Take a look at the chart.

80% are oxygen thieves.

Indeed. That is a lot of money wasted on spiffy office furniture, staff and other trappings. It reminds me at the end of the Cold War where USAF developed a "no general left behind act". For instance, the USAF at the prime of Strategic Air Command (SAC) had bomber wing commanders as full colonels. Full nuke alert; lots of responsibility. After the Cold War (where there was no longer any nuke alert for bombers), you started to see Wings commanded by 1-star generals with less responsibility.

I saw the SES world at a major depot. Some were worth it. Others? Well, the third leg of the waste triad was endless reorganization. No one could stop. You had to look like you were doing something even if the solution would be better served by a little bit more supervision and training. No. Reorganize. Fire up the PowerPoint. Get the message out. Rinse and repeat.

Yes, the military can suffer some cuts; if they are in the right place.