Others have mentioned the automation factor, but let me add another one. Those of us outside the military probably equate "officer" to "management", but a more

Others have mentioned the automation factor, but let me add another one. Those of us outside the military probably equate "officer" to "management", but a more apt comparison might be to "college graduate." Now, how many different ways can we think of that a state-of-the-art surface vessel might need a higher proportion of educated crew vs. maintenance staff who are mostly high-school grads who have received maybe a year or two of ship-specific vocational training?