Why not have it not be state controlled at all? For instance setup it up as a series of trusts paid out to each person.<p>Or limit state control by creating it under a constitutional amendment which establishes a fourth branch of government outside of congressional and executive control.<p>These are not unsolvable problems. The US has a large standing professional military which is civilian controlled. Many thinkers in the past would have asked, &quot;Do you think the people that control the military will just allow the president to fire them?&quot; Yet that has happened. Legitimacy and tradition goes pretty far.