A person is supposed to join the military to DEFEND his country, not fight FOR his country. Big difference there.
George Washington would faint if he saw a map showing the hundreds of US military bases scattered around the world. Are all these bases vital to our national defense? I think not.
I saw an article the other day about the Governor of Indiana visiting an Indiana National Guard unit -— in Kenya.
George Washington had us paying a big chunk of our budget to Islamic pirates.
Yes, whatever it takes to insure freedom of the seas is vital to our national defense.