More than one-third of Australian army troops could not be sent to war because of poor or uncertain fitness, bad teeth or a lack of recent weapons training, the Herald Sun reported.
A new Auditor-General's report reveals more than 13,000 soldiers are not considered battle-ready.
About 7,300 had either failed the basic fitness test — the most arduous element of which is a 1.5 mile run — or hadn't done the test in the last six months.
More than 1,500 soldiers were classed as medically unfit and about 2,140 had such poor dental health they could not be deployed.
Thousands more were overdue for medical and dental checks, while army dentists reported soldiers often missed scheduled appointments.
About 5,800 Diggers failed weapons proficiency tests or were overdue for refresher courses.
The Auditor-General found only 18,900 soldiers — about 53 percent of troops — were ready to go at short notice.
But Australian Defence Minister John Faulkner said the level of readiness was appropriate.
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