Taxpayer-funded troop salaries generate economic spillover in host countries.

Evidence

We also have to remember that these estimates represent just direct costs to the U.S. government’s budget. The total costs to the U.S. economy of keeping bases and military forces abroad are even higher. Consider where the (taxpayer-funded) salaries of troops go when they eat or drink at a local restaurant or bar, buy clothing, or rent a home in Germany, Italy, or Japan. These are what economists call “spillover” or “multiplier effects.” When I visited Okinawa in 2010, Marine Corps representatives bragged how their presence contributes $1.9 billion to the local economy through base contracts, jobs, local purchases, and other spending. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 651