To find cuts in America’s massive military budget, some Republicans want the diet to start at the very top of the food chain.
Key GOP leaders have recently floated the idea of trimming the number of generals and admirals serving in the armed forces, arguing that the ratio of high-ranking officers to enlisted personnel has ballooned out of control and may actually be an impediment to the readiness of the fighting force.
The roughly 900 generals and admirals on active duty today is far fewer than it was in past eras, but the percentage of those officers compared to the number of enlisted troops is near the highest level in modern military history, according to Congressional Research Service (CRS) data.