A story in today’s Taipei Times mentions that there are more than 400 generals in Taiwan’s military. As the total number of personnel in the armed forces is less than 400,000 (380,000 in 2001), that means there’s more than one general for every thousand members of the military. That seems awfully high to me. What kind of ratio is there in other countries?
Countries with militaries which are used for “show” or for “peace-keeping” are usually VERY top heavy and inefficient. Thailand is currently trying to pare some of it’s high ranking brass but finding it difficult for political reasons. Canada has the same problem. The most efficient military in the world, Israel, also has the fewest officers.