Defense

Real Defense - The primary duty of defense is border protection and control of non-citizen visitors.  The US has open borders and poor control over visas and visitors.  The federal government is required to defend against invasion by and harm delivered by foreign entities.  It has failed to do this for decades.  Congress is responsible for fixing this.  States should be empowered to enforce immigration laws if the federal government fails to do so.
Blockades - We used our Navy to prevent Russian missiles from reaching Cuba in the 1960s. We continue to use our military presence to respond to hostile actions, but this needs to be shared with close allies based on proximity.

Deterrence - We maintain a Military capability as a deterrence to those who would attack us if we didn’t maintain this capability.  This is our largest expenditure. Our Military has maintained this capability so far. It includes military research and development and arms production capabilities to ensure that our equipment is the best in the world.

Commercial Defense - The secondary duty of defense is to protect commerce.  We have had our Navy protect trade routes forever.  This would include the Suez Canal and other commercial shipping routes.  Commercial transportation providers are also capable of providing their own defense and calling in the Military.

Local Defense - Police and fire departments within States are responsible for providing local deterrence to crime.  They will not prevent the crime from happening, but they are charged with apprehending and jailing criminals. 
Local Defense from Terrorists - Federal Intelligence Agencies are responsible for preventing terrorists from doing harm.
Foreign Disaster Aid - Our Military is called out to deliver food, water, shelter and medical care in response to foreign disasters. This is humanitarian foreign aid and is largely a Public Relations expense and could also be handled by other capable countries in closer proximity to the disaster. We give military equipment and training to other countries. We have sent our Military to intervene in foreign wars. This is Military Foreign Aid and could be provided by other countries closer to the warzone. This isn’t really defense and expenditures should be managed separately.
Lessons from WWII - We learned that powerful aggressor nations need to be kept in check. China needs to refrain from expansion in the Pacific and Russia needs to refrain from expansion in the Ukraine. We can continue to use sanctions on Iran and stop restricting oil and gas production and export and trade to moderate China and Russia. We need to maintain a military presence in the Pacific and in Europe, but the need to continue to in the Middle East with partner nations like the Saudis.
Lessons from Debt - Our US government debt puts our economy and ability to defend ourselves at too much risk.  We need to pay down the debt and pare back on being the welfare state and the world’s policeman. 
Conclusions

We need to break down the cost of each category addressed above. Defense and foreign military aid are different. We need to concentrate on Real Defense and reduce foreign aid.  We currently bribe countries to behave themselves and that’s a losing strategy. Congress should impeach Obama for failure to protect the border and enforce legitimate immigration laws.  Then Congress should address defense priorities and right-size expenditures.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader