The U.S. has established a rudimentary Ballistic Missile Defense System capable of destroying long-range rogue nation ballistic missile threats. However, the primary nations of interest, North Korea and Iran, have not yet demonstrated a missile that is capable of reaching the U.S. This paper argues that the greater threat to the U.S. is in the form of short and medium-range ballistic missiles that can be fired at deployed U.S. forces and the operational commander's inability to effectively counter this threat. Two hypothetical scenarios are used to illustrate that U.S. weaknesses exist in the lack of sufficient defensive capability to counter the threat, and in an insufficient command and control structure. This paper advocates a shift of ballistic missile defense focus from the established homeland defense to protection of deployed forces, allies and friends of the U.S. This can be accomplished through accelerated development and deployment of theater defensive systems, and the establishment of theater missile defense commanders who will support U.S. national missile defense in a building block approach.
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