AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare (ILW) has recently released a new publication."U.S. Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense Capabilities: Enabling Joint Force 2020 and Beyond" (Torchbearer National Security Report, May 2014) discusses the Army’s globally deployed forces that defend against potential adversaries’ asymmetric capabilities.This paper illustrates the rapidly evolving threat environment and analyzes the progress that Army integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) forces have achieved against the threat.Over the past 100 years, potential adversaries have keenly observed the forward-staging and power-projection capabilities of U.S. armed forces that have provided the nation with assured access and freedom of action across the global commons.Rather than confronting these capabilities directly, adversaries are relying on an array of air and missile threats – ballistic and cruise missiles, long-range precision rockets and artillery and unmanned aerial systems – as preferred asymmetric means to deny access to American forces.Owing to their defensive nature and the relatively small size of many of these units, Army IAMD forces are a preferred instrument of diplomacy in support of theater engagement, deterrence and shaping efforts.Army IAMD forces are a tangible factor in strategic and regional deterrence calculus – encouraging restraint, denying benefits and, when required, imposing costs to hostile actors.Even small, tactical Army IAMD forces provide the joint force significant strategic and operational advantages, enabling the joint force to leverage decisive advantages in one domain to exploit adversaries’ weaknesses in other domains and facilitating the attainment of joint campaign objectives.Assessments of the global environment have identified the nonlinear development of the air and missile threat.A balanced approach is required that develops an Army IAMD force suitable and are tailored to prevent, shape and win across the full spectrum of potential operational environments.It is therefore crucial that the Army IAMD portfolio receive balanced support and timely and predictable funding.This Torchbearer Issue Paper may be read online in its entirety at http://www.ausa.org/publications/ilw/DigitalPublications/Documents/tb-iamd/index.html .Other ILW publications are available online at http://www.ausa.org/ilw and can also be obtained by calling (800) 336-4570, Ext. 4630, or by e-mailing a request to ilwpublications@ausa.org.