I have not been in the military, but I have worked with other agencies.
Government as a whole does NOT think like human beings, it barely thinks at all. It has intelligence and instincts like a worm or some multi-cell organism. It merely reacts to stimulii
If the equipment was already budgeted, bought, paid for and dispersed to its intended destination, there is ZERO plan to bring it back. In the bureaucracy’s planning process, its gone, used, written-off. The military-industrial complex and their deep-state partners particularly like this, as no one looks backwards and they just focus on getting more for the next budget cycle.
I asked that question after Desert Storm. I was told that once equipment was “in theater” ( of the absurd ) it is never returned. Just too expensive to pack and ship and most of it was “worn out” was the standard line. The exceptions were aircraft and M-1 tanks which were either stock piled in Kuwait or actually shipped back to Europe theater of ops or the USA. They were the ones painted tan and not green.