A few years before WWI, Russia had a disastrous war against the Japanese, whom they had considered an inferior, small opponent that would be defeated quickly.

Time is a flat circle.

These are research grants. Trade schools do not do the type of research Harvard scientists do. It is the leading research institution in the world for many fields. Most of those grants are on the order of less than a million dollars and fund young, untenured researchers who will become the next generation of scientists. Alum sponsorships are almost always earmarked, and never for research purposes.

Yeah, defense spending is something like half the discretionary budget. Obviously the place to start when cutting waste, but not politically viable for arcane reasons.