Military spending dwarfs any other category of spending in the federal budget. Remember, a lot of military spending is not included directly in the military's "actual" budget. For instance, all the nuclear weapons we have are budgeted under the Dept. of Energy, not military, despite the military having hands-on responsibility for them. Retirement costs for the military aren't directly included in the military's budget. Most of the long term health care for retired and disabled vets are included in other budget areas, not the military's.
And while you express a desire for smaller gov't. and seem to favor Republicans as the way to get smaller gov't, which Republican president made an actual decrease in the size of the federal gov't payroll---since Eisenhower? The answer is Geo. Bush, just after Reagan's terms. He's the only Republican to do so ( and did so marginally)......Reagan increased the federal payroll by over 240K employees during his terms. In reality, the last President to make substantial decreases in the fed. gov't. payroll was Clinton, who decreased Fed. payroll by over 300K employees. GWB just added new departments/cabinet positions and an expansion of gov't.
So, while the Repubs. claim to want smaller gov't, their actions during their administrations prove otherwise.