That’s correct. Repairing a weakened military is not the same as war-hungry. Whoever the candidate is, they need to campaign on fixing a weakened military but also be clear that the best tool to avoid war is a strong foreign policy backed by a military at the ready. Reagan had it right, as he usually did.
There are some FReepers, possibly libertarians, who want the military slashed, but most of us believe in a strong military. You have a strong military in order to AVOID conflict, not to send it all over the globe as Team America World Police. It’s strong so you don’t have to use it, and you only use it when you must, like when national survival is at stake. You hope that never happens, but you carry the “big stick” so you can also annihilate an enemy if absolutely necessary...in self defense.
So, I think you’re right. Reagan did an outstanding job of rebuilding the military and restoring American pride, but he didn’t use his powerful military much. There was no reason to, because the strongest kid on the block gets to pick his battles. It’s funny, BTW, that Democrats always accuse Republicans of being warmongers, but the biggest so-called warmonger of them all, Ronald Reagan, used the military quite sparingly.