America's military is in decline, so much so that the Afganistan, Iraq and other Middle East deployment reservists are being removed from their successful employment and forced back into service at a fraction of the pay they were making in the private sector.

https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/2024-the-us-military-weakand-should-scare-you#:~:text=It%20is%20not%20uncommon%20for,will%20shrink%20further%2C%20to%20445%2C000.

China has 2 million active soldiers, 252,000 active Navy personnel, 680 ships, 198 aircraft.

America's military budget exceeds $800 billion.

"In 1989, the Army had 770,000 soldiers in its Active component. Today, it has 452,000, shrinking by 33,000 last year alone. By the end of this year, it will shrink further, to 445,000. Since 2011, the service has lost 121,000 troops, 22 percent of its force. The service is the smallest it has been since the 1930s. Most of its major weapons were purchased in the 1980s."

I find this article interesting particularly in light of my moving to Canada. Many of my Santa Barbara friends and colleagues said Canada is, "so much more expensive." I had been to Canada on business and knew those comments stemmed from ignorance.

If I had children I would encourage them to investigate the Canadian Military. By comparison, the U.S. Army Warrant officer makes between $44 and $77,000.00 yearly and the American Army is hated world wide while the Canadians are welcomed.