Melchett,
All valid points. I deliberately didn't try to compare the forces - merely pointed out what I suspected as being inefficient in all three. But I do suppose there was a implicit comparison in what I wrote.
Last time I checked (admittedly pre-SDSR) a Hansard the RAF had circa 1200 Wg Cdrs and the RN 800 Cdrs. Roughly 1 in 30 for the respective force sizes. One has a small number of squadrons and the other has a miniscule number of ships - now the operators, as you rightly point out, are not the whole story - but the numbers are still a little off don't you think? I can't see how either works. Should more than 1 in 30 people in a Navy be a Cdr or above - when a Cdr commands the basic warfighting unit?
I understand that we are different, but that doesn't mean that we are beyond scrutiny and it doesn't mean that we should not attempt to be as efficient as possible.