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Imagine the entire military establishment is a Colt .45 Peacemaker, the Gun that Won the West. This gun, also known as the Single Action Army, SAA Model P Peacemaker, M1873, is a single action revolver and holds six cartridges. It was designed for the U.S. government and was the military standard service revolver until 1892.
Now let us imagine that this classic weapon, along with its accoutrements, makes up our entire military force. In order to maintain the peace, what does each part represent, and is it fully necessary in order for the weapon to be effective?
There's the holster. It can be made of fancy, top grade, exotic leather, using leather pyrography designs, or something cheaper. There would likely be a negligible difference in either choice. Think of the holster as the barracks or living quarters for the troops. They don't need fancy, hotel-like living conditions, as long as it's comfortable.
Next, there's the stock, or grips, an important part of the Colt. If it's too small, the gun may slip in your hand and cause a poor shot. But if it's the right size, it doesn't matter whether it has a pearl inlay or a simple hard plastic cover--it's going to get the job done. Think of the stock as a weapons guidance system. It's okay to use less expensive ones as long as it truly keeps the weapon accurate.
The cylinder can be thought of as our actual weapons cache, our missiles, our rounds. A full cylinder is absolutely necessary to maintain the peace, and the quality of the rounds inside the cylinder is equally as important, so we cannot skimp on the rounds we use if we want to ensure our safety if the Colt is needed.
The barrel of our Colt is like a nuclear weapons delivery system. It places a nuclear weapon on target, ready to detonate and obliterate it. These are our ballistic missiles, for example. This part of the Colt is absolutely essential as a deterrent to our enemies. We cannot scrimp on the barrel; we must use the best or the bullets will go to waste.
The .45 caliber rounds in our Colt are like the ballistics used with our missiles, and the ammunition used by our foot soldiers. The rounds themselves can actually be thought of as soldiers, each one with a purpose, ready to do whatever is necessary to maintain the peace. The important difference in this analogy of rounds equating to soldiers is that once fired, a round becomes useless; the same is not true with soldiers, but you see the point.
The hammer, the guard screws and other assorted hardware that goes into the construction of the Colt .45 Peacemaker needs to be of good quality as well, but these might be areas where some savings can be assigned. Let's call that area, military miscellaneous.
The shooter firing the Colt is analogous to a military General. He decides on the specific target for the bullets/soldiers to attack and he is indispensable in the process of using the Colt/military.
George S. Patton carried his own custom-made SAA Colt with ivory grips and engraved with his initials and an eagle. He used this gun during the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916 and killed two Mexican lieutenants with it. Whether it had ivory grips or simple wooden ones (this was pre-plastic America) would not have ended in a different result--Patton was a good shot.
Sure, the military could stand some cuts to its budget, but there are obvious parts of the budget that we cannot afford to cut if we want the USA to remain safe.
Our president, a man who doesn't know how to pronounce 'Corpsman' doesn't have a clue about how to use our military. And our Secretary of Defense, a Vietnam veteran, Chuck Hagel, should be ashamed to pretend this budget is sufficient to keep the homeland safe. Personally, I believe Hagel the Horrible is too stupid to be ashamed and Obama too oblivious of our military's needs to do the right thing.
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