This, as you say, smacks of authoritarianism. It's out of place in a republican government. Benjamin Rush, who was a member of the Sons of Liberty and a signer of the Declaration, wrote in a letter to James Madison that,

"It is better to prevent Wars, than to learn the Art of carrying them on successfully. For this purpose let military Shews (so fascinating to young people) be rare—and if possible let the military character be stripped of its glare—and even rendered unpopular."