Procurement programs require officers senior enough to handle political negotiations as well as operational requirements and integration into the fleet. These responsibilities can justify commodore or rear-admiral rank even when the officer commands no fleet at sea. In the interwar U.S. Navy, captains ran some programs that other navies would have assigned to admirals. That reflected a rank structure in which rear admiral was the highest substantive rank and commodore was not a permanent step below it. Comparisons of senior-officer numbers across eras therefore need to account for the work attached to each rank.
Notable Point · 42:02-43:49
Why procurement programs need senior officers
Counting admirals across eras can mislead when procurement responsibilities and substantive rank structures have changed.