Defense is not the private sector. It is a sanctified institution politically where we must always fund it, similar to social security and Medicare. It’s a blank check we write every year, no questions asked.

Certain private sector industries wish to join this club. Green energy has the makings of it. Education is obviously one of them. You get the picture.

I believe 40-50% of the defense budget is simply the salaries and benefits of the people who are in the military.

People often talk as though all the money was spent on high tech weapons and vehicles, but if you're going to have people, they have to make a living. Even if they just all sat at desks.

Agreed. Having spent some time in the UK equivalent, what they do primarily is training, not hardware procurement.

Although they do spend a tidy sum on hardware too, of course!

Military personnel + operations and maintenance, not including procurement, is more like 65% of the US budget.