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.
When Reagan took office in 1981, we were still rebuilding our forces post-Vietnam. I was stationed in Germany at the time, and we were undermanned with old, worn out equipment. We spent as much time getting rid of substandard soldiers as we did training.
I left the Army shortly after Reagan was re-elected. I saw the great improvements in the quality of our soldiers, as well as equipment.