Originally Posted by
ORAC
it's not comparing like for like.
The army has a lot of experienced NCOs because you need them on the battlefield and to cover attrition. The RAF is top heavy because the aircrew are mostly commissioned and that affects the ratio above. The RN works to fixed ratios on board ship.
Orac, I know that which is why I chose to compare SNCO+WO+JO against the first EO rank. It is at Sqn Ldr that the RAF is top heavy compared with the Army. "Aircrew are mostly commissioned" is a red herring as "most" aircrew should be in the JO box and not EO.
A pertinent question would be how many commissioned aircrew are there in the RAF. Roger Honey, in 1988, said that the frontline requirement for aircrew was 1000 bums on seats. How many aircrew now?