I believe that any US military presence on the moon would exist primarily as an insurance policy. MAD required failsafe measures including our nuclear submarines, railroad launchers and hard to destroy movable targets that could retaliate after a first strike.

The moon is also a great failsafe. Hypothetically, if we had nukes on the moon they could provide an AMPLE counterstrike to any and every nation foolish enough to launch a first strike against us.

While you have a limited time window, your missiles are near immune from attack because to reach the moon with a nuclear missile requires specialized missiles with LOTS of fuel and special guidance systems etcetera. None of our enemies have such a capability.

And since we are the only nation who has been there - treaties and verifications or monitoring are, for all practical intents and purposes, non-issues. All we would have to do is scare away any nation that tries to reach the moon to keep our assets secure.

SDAI-Tech1