Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Air Force General Brothers Stanley and Frank Gorenc (photo: Samantha Willner, U.S. Air Force)
There are some in Washington who feel the U.S. Air Force has too many generals.
From Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the number of Air Force top brass has been challenged. And the numbers would seem to back up their complaints.
The air wing of the armed services has more general officers per capita than any other military branch: one for every 1,045 airmen. The U.S. Army, meanwhile, has a ratio of 1 to 1,765.
Furthermore, over the last seven years, the Air Force has trimmed nearly 43,000 airmen while adding 44 generals.
The issue of “brass creep” touches taxpayers because generals are paid higher salaries than other service members and they collect more lucrative pensions. According to Scott Fontaine, writing in the Air Force Times, in 2010 the Air Force spent at least $60 million on its 315 generals.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Brass Creep and the Pentagon: Air Force Leads the Way as Top Offender (by Nick Schwellenbach, Project on Government Oversight)
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