Must be a staple in the leftist playbook. This is exactly what the Clintons did to our military, with a twist. They called it a reduction of the number of government employees as part of their government reorganization plan and gave Al Gore "credit" for it. Of course, if he thought it was a good thing Gore would have eventually taken credit anyway.
The problem is, partly at least, the opposite in Canada. We had the cutting back of the military forces for years, but there's not any more to cut at this point. Plus, what exacerbates the probelsm is often when someone is retired from the military, especially officers, they are rehired as consultants and bureaucrats under DnD. That is why there are, in fact, officer equivalent positions in Canadian Department of Defence and the related organizations where these guys are sent. This eats up money, and accomplishes nothing. Part of the problem is that the office fat needs to be trimmed. And fast. The other problem is an outright shortage of officers with combat experience (a self perpetuating problem since it means we can only afford to send a few officers as military consultants on small scale (1-10, or at most 25) peacekeeping operationsfor the most part) and a shortage of privates.