Share of NCOs among deployed combat troops

[Ken White]

That's five or six NCOs (not sure how to count corporal) and three or four enlisted. Earlier lists of this kind often included an officer or two.

Six NCOs (the Corporal counts) and three Specialists (a super Private).

Nevertheless, I'm very confused by the very high share of NCOs among the dead Americans in Afghanistan.

Without context and job, it's difficult to decipher. However, part of the explanation lies in the opponent's use of IEDs against vehicles and the number of vehicles that are not involved in direct combat but are merely transporting supply and service people from one location to another. Hauling a Contact Repair team to the site of a disabled vehicle and the HMMWV that's doing that may have three NCO specialists in it -- if it gets hit, that could a SSG and two SGTs at one whack. Same deal with the Officers, could be two Judge Advocate, legal officers, on their way to a FOB. The possibilities are endless.

The German military has had a horrible rank inflation for two decades, and these lists suggest that the U.S. had its rank inflation as well.

We have. That's an understatement.

These KIA lists sound even more bottom-up than does the "Taliban leader" thing; reputedly, one third of captives were considered to be Taliban leaders.

I agree with Bill but would add that's also because they're the ones targeted in the raids on their houses and meeting places, the minions get killed in minor engagements. Most minions avoid capture by fleeing as it looks advisable; the targeted 'leaders' are mostly caught by night raids -- again, not the result of direct combat.

I guess I'm not the only one uncomfortable with the thought of deployed forces having so many chieftains that being chieftain inevitably loses a lot of its meaning?

Probably not...