Readiness: Only when it matters?

I spoke with a friend recently who is a lieutenant in the Army's Special Forces. He is preparing his unit for deployment to the war in Afghanistan. Interestingly, certain members of the military are being discharged (a difficult bureaucratic process given that some are career military officers) because it has been determined that, given the imminent action, they are not ready to go to battle. Why were these "employees" acceptable in peacetime? Why was their lack of readiness not an issue before? We think we can get by with mediocre talent and effort in peacetime. Change readiness for most of us does not have a life or death impact. We know getting by isn't good enough in wartime. There is always a corporate enemy lurking in the form of competition, or the economy, or new regulations. Shouldn't we always be at our highest readiness?

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