Does manning need to increase for headcount in these particular positions to increase? I always figured there was a certain level of "bloat" positions in peacetime militaries—the military equivalent of middle-managers—who certainly went through the same boot-camp as everyone else once upon a time, are still required to pass regular physical exams like everyone else, and so could simply have their duties extended/rebalanced to have them do more man-on-the-spot work as well as their clerical duties. That's what happens when a war starts, no?

There's also a good chunk of personnel who, even in peacetime, end up injured or disabled on the job (such as my friend the CPO with a sudden heart condition) who are required by doctor's orders to not do some tiny part of their job, and then regs dictate that they just not do that job at all—so they're either honourably discharged (and now receive VA benefits), or they're kept, but desked. In a more "efficient" military, these people (who are mostly still able to do 99% of their jobs) would just have their duties adjusted, with the one part of their workload they can't handle reallocated to their peers, so they can continue converting payroll into duties performed, rather than chairs sat on.