A new report designed to help DoD cut 110 general and flag officer positions by the end of 2022 identified 386 current O-7 and above positions that “do not meet criteria” for such high-ranking occupants, but listed several factors that could make trimming the ranks difficult.

“DoD needs a more analytic foundation with which to justify its [general and flag officer] requirements,” RAND Corp. researchers wrote in “Realigning the Stars: A Methodology for Reviewing Active Component General and Flag Officer Requirements,” a 315-page report released this week. The report offers up a “position-by-position analytical approach” to the 110-position cut mandated by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It compares high-ranking jobs based on 11 key factors, including “magnitude of responsibilities,” independent decision-making, and interaction with other senior leaders.

The 2017 NDAA allows 852 general and flag officer authorizations as of Dec. 31, 2022, compared with 962 authorizations when the legislation was passed. The RAND study analyzed 1,113 “general and flag officer requirements” and found just 727 that met the criteria for a general or an admiral.

The report did not provide a position-by-position breakdown, but some of the proposed cuts include:

• 48 Air Force positions, including 24 one-star wing commander jobs that researchers say could go to colonels.
• 26 Army positions, mostly one-star jobs researchers said could be filled by colonels.
• 21 Navy positions, mostly one-star jobs researchers said could be filled by Senior Executive Service (SES) civilians.
• 10 Marine Corps positions, including Marine Corps Headquarters jobs recommended for SES personnel.
• 33 medical-related positions, primarily those managing regional health commands.
• 11 positions in acquisition areas.

Not So Simple

Even if agreement could be reached on the existing high-ranking force structure, researchers said new priorities and structural changes likely would complicate matters and could lead to the need for more personnel. Further expansion of U.S. European Command was one example cited, as was the planned Space Corps, which the report identifies as “a new armed service to man, train, and equip 'spacemen.'”

That force could require between 64 and 79 new positions from O-7 to O-10, the report states. Forming U.S. Space Command as a joint combatant command, not a separate branch, would require about 20 such positions, per the report, not counting “dual hat” jobs that likely would be filled by officers already in other roles.

RAND's recommendations for streamlined officer staffing included encouraging DoD to “establish a philosophy for using all available workforce talent” to fill high-level jobs, including reserve-component officers and senior civilians. It also suggested further standardizing definitions of the jobs across services, to better allow for future evaluations.