I think that as far as the RN goes, this may be a misinterpretation of a piece in
International Affairs by Paul Cornish and Andrew Dorman (National defence in the age of austerity, July 2009) -
Yet in March 2008, the Navy had approximately 80 commodores, 20 more than it thinks it requires
For the RAF, the picture presented by Dorman and Cornish should worry rather more than just a few Group Captains and above:
According to none other than the minister of state for the armed forces (recently elevated to secretary of state for defence), in all ranks above flight lieutenant the RAF has more officers on its books than it requires