re: When did it become conservative to support a large standing army?

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Since we've had a massive standing army, our major engagements have been in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq x2, and Afghanistan. Mixed results at best, especially in the nuclear era where large standing armies are useless except as an occupational force.

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Thats actually a good point. The two wars most Americans bank on when discussing the military were won with relatively small standing armies at the start of each war.

Why do we need huge armies when they arguably slow us down and create poor performance?