Joint Force Command Brunssum

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Joint Force Command Brunssum is the NATO military command based at Brunssum, the Netherlands. The installation houses members of the central European NATO countries, including American, Canadian, British, German, Belgian, and Dutch personnel.

1 Cold War period
2 Current Situation
3 Headquarters Facility
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Cold War period

During the Cold War, AFCENT (Allied Forces Central Europe, former name) consisted of two Army Groups: Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), which included the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and Central Army Group (CENTAG), as well as Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE). These Principal Subordinate Commanders (PSCs) had only limited peacetime authorities, and issues such as training, doctrine, logistics, rules of engagement (ROE), etc., were largely a national, rather than Alliance, responsibility.

[edit] Current Situation

The military system of the NATO today is fundamentally different from the system that existed before the end of the Cold War. In November 1991, the NATO heads of state and government adopted the "New Strategic Concept" at the NATO Summit in Rome. This new conceptual orientation led among other things, to fundamental changes both in the force and integrated command structure. Both Central Army Group and Northern Army Group were dismantled.

Ground operations relating to the crisis in former Yugoslavia began in late 1992. In November 1992, the UN Protection Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina was provided with an operational headquarters drawn from NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), including a staff of some 100 personnel, equipment, supplies and initial financial support.

Structural changes began in June of 1993, when HQ Central Army Group (CENTAG, Heidelberg, GE) and Northern Army Group (NORTHAG, Mönchengladbach, GE) were deactivated and replaced by Headquarters Allied Land Forces Central Europe (LANDCENT), which was activated in Heidelberg on 1 July 1993. LANTCENT is now one of the components of Joint Forces Command Brussum.

The commander of US Army, Europe, Gen. William W. Crouch, assumed an additional role as commander of NATO LANDCENT on 15 February 1996. He was the first American to command LANDCENT since its 1993 activation. Originally, the LANDCENT command was to be rotated between German and Dutch generals. The dual command of United States Army Europe (USAREUR) and LANDCENT allows the continued integration of US Army Europe into NATO's post-Cold War structure. All NATO corps, except for the 4th German Corps, are now multinational. There are now four multinational main defence corps in NATO's Central Region: one Danish-German, one Dutch-German and two German-United States. In addition, an agreement has been concluded setting out arrangements under which the European Corps, consisting of units from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain, would be made available to NATO in times of crisis. Ensuring interoperability among units of different nations will be an ongoing challenge.

LANDCENT's missions are to:

Protect the peace and deter aggression in NATO's central region.
Plan, prepare and direct operations of land forces under NATO command.
Plan, coordinate and conduct the land and air subcampaign jointly with NATO's Allied Air Command, Central.
Develop plans for, and participate in, the MCP and PFP initiative.
Support the flanks of the area of responsibilities.

That area comprises Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands.

[edit] Headquarters Facility

The communication group located on the base is Central Region Signals Group, or CRSG, and it ensures communication throughout Central Europe.

One of the communication systems that is part of CRSG is the Communication Improvement System - 67, or CIP-67. This communication system is a line of site system using microwave radios and multiplexers posted in various sites throughout the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The CIP-67 system is controlled by the FB-40 and FBM-40, which is a primitive computer system, used to monitor alarms on the network. The FB-40 was originally designed for the German rail system, but not meeting their very strict specifications, NATO decided to purchase it to monitor the alarms on the CIP-67 system. Another piece of equipment that is used in the CIP-67 system is the Standard Interface Equipment, or SIE, and this is used to make a voice frequency channel from a multiplexor usable with a telephone.

There is a large percentage of civilians at the installation.

On the base is Club 13, which is the all ranks club. The club is run by the HQ itself. It is closed during the weekend. In addition to the all ranks club, AFCENT has a movie theatre,a gymnasium, and a swimming pool.