Unless there is a threat of an American being attacked on domestic ground by a foreign power, this isn’t really the intended purpose of the military under our constitution.

Back in the 1700s, a standing military wasn’t as necessary, since response times were generally measurable in months, and you could stand up an army in that time. Even then, you needed a navy, since shipbuilding took lots of money and time. But now, to prevent an attack on the civilian population or the government, readiness needs to be much, much higher.

I’m more in agreement with you about “interests abroad.” There’s far too much interference in the affairs of foreign countries in order to benefit US-based corporations and the ambitions of certain factions of the US elite. But that’s a two-way street. For example, Trump is sabotaging renewable energy projects so that the US will continue to be dependent on fossil fuels, since that makes us more vulnerable to manipuation of that market by Russia and other suppliers. Eliminating that massive supply-chain risk should be one of the main pillars of our medium-term national security strategy, and would keep us from being drawn into wars.