{{Short description|Condition of armed forces}} [[File:Sabrecrew.jpg|thumb|right|Royal Canadian Air Force alert crew at Zweibrücken Air Base in West Germany waiting to scramble in 1957]] '''Combat readiness''' is a condition of the armed forces and their constituent units and formations, warships, aircraft, weapon systems or other military technology and equipment to perform during combat military operations,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101109072851/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAV/is_3_90/ai_82009553/ Kruys], Archived from the [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAV/is_3_90/ai_82009553?tag=content;col1 original] on November 9, 2010, on the Wayback Machine.</ref> or functions consistent with the purpose for which they are organized or designed, or the managing of resources and personnel training in preparation for combat.<ref>Andrews & Shambo, p. 2</ref>
[[File:Joint forces training 140707-A-VC802-008.jpg|thumb|Three United States Armed Forces rear and non-combat personnel—a U.S. Army military construction supervisor, a U.S. Air Force cyber transport technician, and a U.S. Navy cook—during combat training to ensure combat readiness, in 2014]]
Different armed forces maintain different levels of readiness for the troops to engage in combat, varying from minutes to months; economic considerations are a major factor in explaining the variation.<ref>Jordan, pp. 2–3</ref>
==See also== *Alert crew *Alert state *COGCON *DEFCON *Mobilization *Scrambling (military) *List of established military terms
==References== {{reflist}}
==Citations== *Andrews, Robert P. & Shambo, James F., (thesis), ''A system dynamics analysis of the factors affecting combat readiness'', Faculty of the School of Systems and Logistics of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Air University, June 1980 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120225064750if_/http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA089364&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf] *Jordan, Thomas M., Col. (US Army), Improving Combat Readiness: Developing and Implementing Effective Training, ''Infantry Magazine'', Sept-Dec 2000 [https://web.archive.org/web/20101109072851/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAV/is_3_90/ai_82009553/] *Kruys, G.P.H., ''Combat readiness with specific reference to armies'', (Chapter Five), Institute for Strategic Studies, University of Pretoria, Institute for Strategic Studies 2001 [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-2078594_ITM]
==Further reading== *Pry, Peter Vincent, ''War Scare: Russia and America on the Nuclear Brink'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999 {{ISBN|0-275-96643-7}} *Betts, Richard K., ''Military Readiness: Concepts, Choices, Consequences'', Brookings Institution Press, 1995 {{ISBN|0-8157-0905-6}}
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Category:Military organization Category:Military science Category:Alert measurement systems