Armed forces are reducing their manpower in response to demands for “peace dividends”, but in deciding how each armed force should reduce manpower, what account is taken of manpower efficiency? This paper compares, for 15, mainly NATO nations, in 1993, the ratios of armed forces' uniformed manpower to the manpower they are estimated to require in order to operate their front-line equipment. Marked international differences in these ratios are evident, and as predicted, they are greater than the differences in the corresponding ratios between commercial organisations. The pattern of manpower reductions between 1989 and 1993 reflected, to some degree, the pattern of overmanning in 1989, relative to median “league” positions of armies, navies and air forces. The paper suggests that, with appropriate refinements, the benchmarking approach could be used in defence, as in other areas, to achieve significant resource savings.