South Korean soldiers stand with fists curled at their hips in a combat-ready mode borrowed from taekwondo.

NPR: NKorean Soldiers Put Down Arms To Help Plant Crops

This is part of the transition plan, and ISAF will remain combat-ready until the end of 2014.

BBC: UK combat operations in Afghanistan effectively cease

As chief of Kostrad, a key combat-ready unit, Prabowo would have been the only one able to take charge.

CNN: ASIAWEEK INVESTIGATION

The first contingent of 100 military police officers arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport late Thursday -- combat-ready for immediate deployment in New Orleans.

CNN: Military due to move in to New Orleans

Though Homs has been the site of urban combat for two years, the soldiers -- from the front line to checkpoints -- appeared largely combat-ready.

CNN: Syrian army in Homs is showing strains of war

What really exposed European weakness was the difficulty many allies had in raising a handful of combat-ready troops for peacekeeping in Kosovo, once the bombing had had its effect.

ECONOMIST: The EU turns its attention from ploughshares to swords

The day after "W." accepted his party's nomination, Clinton Pentagon press spokesman Ken Bacon and General Hugh Shelton, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were mustered out to dispute the governor's assertion that two of the Army's divisions were not combat-ready.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Washington (CNN) -- Several dozen combat-ready U.S. Marines stationed in southern Spain have been put on alert to potentially move into Libya and assist in the evacuation of American personnel if the unrest grows there in the coming days, a senior military official confirms to CNN.

CNN: Marines on alert if U.S. personnel evacuate Libya

Our remaining troops -- I might add, as combat ready, if need be, as any in our military -- will advise and assist Iraqi forces, support partnered counterterrorism operations and protect our military and civilian personnel, as well as our infrastructure.

WHITEHOUSE: Change of Command, End of Combat Operations Ceremony

Pistorius might have been on edge, but we in the body corporate sent out endless nagging e-mails to our far less combat ready complex dwellers urging them to lock their doors, close their windows, and set their alarms at night.

CNN: Pistorius, and the psychology of walls

Do this again for weapons and armor, and your character is ready to head into turn-based combat.

FORBES: Card Hunter Is A Genre Blend Done Right

Once the Iraqi forces are "reliable, battle-ready, " they will displace U.S. heavy combat forces, he said.

CNN: In Iowa, GOP candidates spar over abortion, criticize Bush