How well-prepared was the USA military when the Korean War broke out?

Not very well prepared at all.

The Korean War began in June of 1950. World War II had ended in September of 1945. The U.S. immediately began to demobilize and return to a peacetime environment. At the end of World War II, the U.S. Armed Forces had more than 12 million personnel. By June 1947 that number had dropped to 1.5 million. Cuts in defense spending were equally severe so that the Army was reduced "to a state of near impotency” per one scholar. (1)

A rapid build up was required to fight the Korean War. We came close to losing the War in the first two months and only managed a stalemate by the time of the armistice in July 1953.

We had ignored the advise of numerous military leaders throughout history which was best summed up by the phrase "If you want peace, prepare for war", attributed to Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (4th Century) or as George Washington put it “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.”

(1) Demobilization of United States armed forces after World War II - Wikipedia

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