The U.S. Army is facing challenges in implementing the National Defense Strategy, primarily due to bloated staff structures and an overwhelming burden of "paperwork" for officers.
The American Army is literally overloaded with staff, some of which did not even exist during World War II or in the 1990s. Since September 11, 2001, the total number of personnel in staff structures has increased by a staggering 60%. This is reported in a publication by Defense One.
The authors of the publication specifically mention that an example of such "staff overload" is the existence of the Army Installation Management Command (or IMC), established in 2006.
The IMC has a personnel count of 30,000 military members and 70,000 civilian employees, taking over tasks that were previously handled by local garrison commanders. Initially, the creation of the Army Installation Management Command was intended to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, but in reality, management effectiveness has declined, and the volume of bureaucratic work has only increased.
Another similar example is the Army Acquisition Corps, established in 1989, which currently includes 1,600 officers and an even larger number of civilian employees.
Throughout its existence, the Army Acquisition Corps has failed to implement any major programs for the development and procurement of advanced weaponry, such as the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter or the XM1299 long-range artillery system, despite billions of dollars being wasted on these programs.
Moreover, statistics show that from 1965 to 2018, the number of generals in the U.S. armed forces increased overall by 46%. Presently, one-third of the entire U.S. defense budget is allocated to officer salaries, including corresponding pay raises.
At the same time, the number of officers in the U.S. Army has grown by 21% since 2000, and as of 2024, every sixth service member in the U.S. Army belongs to the officer corps. However, the issue is that the expansion of the officer corps has not led to increased efficiency in combat training, as American officers also complain about the significant amount of bureaucratic work that hinders them from performing their primary mission – preparing their soldiers for war.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that as of December 2023, the U.S. Army had reduced to 452,000, the lowest number since 1940.