While the military doesn't pay enlisted members enough money to retire early, it does allow them a way to live comfortably, something a job serving fries at McDonalds would never allow to happen.
But the military isn't just for those who are graduating high school. The department of defense is the largest employer of people with physical and mental handicaps as well(defenselink.mil). Every base that closes is another hundred people with special needs who are out of a job. But they wouldn't be the only ones looking for work. The military employs more civilians then it does men in women in uniform (InfoTrac OneFile). It is hard enough for those people out of work to find a job now. If we got rid of defense spending, not only would all of these people who work for the DoD be out of a job, but so would all those who do contracting work for the military. The job market hasn't seen an influx of that many people looking for work since the great depression.
Without the government spending money on the department of defense we wouldn't have many of the conveniences that we have today. Many of the things that came from the space program, such as the microwave, Tang, and Velcro wouldn't be around today if the military didn't have the funding it needed. Nor would be have the cable shows we have which rely on satellites. But perhaps the biggest thing missing would be the Internet, which is responsible for both many years of economic success and a recession. It seems hard to imagine a world ten or fifteen years ago where the word email had little meaning to anyone, but thanks to government spending millions of people communicate with people who they otherwise wouldn't be able to.
All of the military victories since the dawn of time have resulted in deaths for all parties involved. If military spending is cut, that may continue to be the case. But if funding is able to be maintained it will soon be possible to attack with such powerful non-lethal force that no one needs to die.
