There is an option that may not be utilized often enough. All over the globe, nations are finding that government has taken on too much. Railroads, airlines, power plants and even prisons are being turned back, or over, to the private sector, where they belong. But even defense, which is the primary function of government, can be outsourced in some conditions. There would be nothing precedent-setting about doing so.
Mercenaries have a long history.
In 1294 B.C., the pharaoh Ramses hired Numidian soldiers to attack a Hittite stronghold at Kadesh. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Spanish, Swiss, Italian and German mercenaries were commonly used in Europe. Occasionally, mercenaries turned on their employers, usually when they didn't get paid. Hungarian hero John Hunyadi used them at the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, yet was defeated by a vastly larger Turk army. Mercenaries were used against Britain by William the Conqueror and the British used them against America in the Revolution.