Engines has hit the nail on the head re rank and number inflation. For the RN the problem really started in the '90s when Jointery reared its ugly head. If I take the Joint Helicopter Command first. When the shape of the HQ was designed the powers that be agreed that the division of posts to the RN, Army and RAF should be proportionate with the RN being allocated 18% of the slots. This equated to about 23 officer posts. This caused a panic in the manpower world of 2SL as e Commando Helo Force at HQ level was run by 3 staff officers, mainly SO2s. The more senior roles were filled by triple hatted officers who also coverered the likes of LYnx, Seaking, Harrier etc. The SAR Force was run, at HQ level, by an SO2. The culprit was the RAF who had something like 52 staff officers running the Support Helo Force.
The advent of JOint Force Harrier was even more amusing. Once again there were very few staff officers to transfer into the new joint organisation. However, it was agreed that the AOC of this Force would be RN (Adm. Henderson). When he arrived at High Wycombe he could not believe the size of the organisation he was taking over and quickly set about reducing the size and introduce some efficiency. It was most definitely an uphill battle. His successor Adm Lidbetter carried on the battle but eventually lost when the RAF "reorganised" their Group structure and disbanded the Admirals Group!