Managing the 3Ms of Military Readiness

Money, manpower and material (3Ms) determine a state's capacity to leverage its hard power for fulfilling its national security objectives. A deficiency in any of these elements could create a structural imbalance and impact the development of desired capabilities, and in turn, the desired levels of military readiness. This issue brief focuses on the significance of three important elements of readiness, namely, money, manpower and material, and broadly outlines an approach for their efficacious management in the future. The author argues that each factor plays a crucial role in the operational and structural readiness of the armed forces, and more importantly in concert with each other for delivery of readiness needs. However, in the Indian context, there is often a tendency to evaluate them in isolation and draw conclusions that might not be holistic in addressing the military's readiness needs.

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