Time & money: The 2 major variables in readiness, & what that means for planning
For three years I’ve been reading a lot of 1930s history, so the other day was reminded once again of Gen. George C. Marshall’s lament that before World War II began, he had all the time in the world and no money, and that after it began, he had the opposite.
For three years I’ve been reading a lot of 1930s history, so the other day was reminded once again of Gen. George C. Marshall’s lament that before World War II began, he had all the time in the world and no money, and that after it began, he had the opposite.
I suspect that this is, more or less, always the case. You are always going to have time but not money, or money but not time. So it seems to me that the people concerned with readiness should prepare parallel plans — one for each case.
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Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
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