As of December 2015 there were 217 flag officers in the Navy [1], meaning 1-star (rear-admiral, lower half, O-7, eq. to a brigadier general) to 4-star (admiral,

As of December 2015 there were 217 flag officers in the Navy [1], meaning 1-star (rear-admiral, lower half, O-7, eq. to a brigadier general) to 4-star (admiral, O-10). You have 162 places for Navy flag officers, but you also have 61 spots for "joint duty" Naval flag officers [2]. There are fewer flag officers than there used to be, but the force is smaller, so the proportion is higher than it was back in the 60s and 70s. [1]: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44389.pdf https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44389.pdf [2]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/526 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/526