"stretched manpower" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it when referring to an inadequate amount of people to complete a task. For example: Due to budget constraints, the project was undertaken by a team of only three, leading to stretched manpower and subsequent delays.
Some speculated that Friday's attacks on Kirkuk may have been an effort to divert or stretch Kurdish manpower.
"Generally they are very stretched now – their manpower on the ground in relation to the territory they're holding is very thin," said Hammond.
The three UN Corps advanced cautiously in a continuous front line in order to prevent more ambushes similar to the Chinese First Phase Campaign, but the lack of manpower stretched the UN forces to the limit.
Its manpower was stretched and minuscule, and its equipment would have made even Geoff Hoon blush.
Its manpower was stretched to the limit to maintain its hegemony over the Mediterranean world, while its sources in Italy were beginning to contract.
However, the Rhodesian Army remained stretched and low on manpower.
And the department's manpower has been stretched further in recent weeks by fears of terrorism, with hundreds of officers stationed around new concrete barricades set up around City Hall, Federal courthouses and other government buildings in downtown Manhattan, including Police Headquarters.
We will ask state and local officials to create a new, modern civil defense service similar to local volunteer fire departments to respond to local emergencies when the manpower of governments is stretched thin.
We'll ask state and local officials to create a new modern civil defence service similar to local volunteer fire departments, to respond to local emergencies when the manpower of governments is stretched thin.
Two referendums on conscription for overseas service had been defeated during the war, preserving the volunteer status of the Australian force, but stretching the reserves of manpower available, particularly towards the end of the fighting.
