4-83. Freedom of movement is essential to a successful defense. During large-scale combat operations, most friendly forces will not initially operate under the protection of air superiority. The joint force commander normally seeks to gain and maintain air superiority as quickly as possible to allow all friendly forces, not just ground forces, to operate without prohibitive interference from enemy air and missile threats. This counterair mission integrates both offensive operations and defensive operations by all joint force components. In an environment where air and missile threats exist, a defending ground force operates within a joint counterair operation designed to attain the degree of air superiority required by the joint force commander to accomplish the mission.