03/15/2011
https://www.congress.gov...
"each Service has a Chief and Vice Chief, but beyond that there appears to be little consistency across the Services"
"Secretary Stanley, section 525 of title 10, U.S.C., establishes the maximum number of O-8s, O-9s, and O-10s each Service may have in their institutional force."
"So it would be your view that the Secretary of Defense has the authority under the legislative umbrella to declare that to be a four star?"
"does the presence of a four-star commander unnecessarily lead to inflated grades of the principal staff officers and is further study of this required?"