| Joint Force Command Brunssum | |
|---|---|
Allied Force Central Europe badge |
|
| Active | AFCENT: 1953-2000 RHQ AFNORTH: 2000-2004 JFC-Brunssum: 2004-present |
| Country | NATO |
| Part of | Allied Command Operations, Casteau, Belgium |
| Headquarters | Brunssum, Netherlands |
| Motto | Many Nations: One Mission. |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
General Wolf-Dieter Langheld, Bundeswehr/Heer (Germany) |
Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFC-B) is the NATO military command based in Brunssum, Netherlands. JFC-B reports to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) based at Casteau, Belgium. It is one of three operational level commands in the NATO command structure, the others being Joint Force Command Naples, Italy and Joint Command Lisbon, Portugal.[1] JFC-B also serves as the NATO higher headquarters for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.[2]
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The NATO command at Brunssum has been renamed twice due to reorganization within NATO. Originally it was known as Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) when it was activated in 1953 in Fontainebleau, France.
One of the command's exercises in the 1950s was Operation Counter Punch. Counter Punch was a September 1957 AFCENT air-ground military exercise that also tested NATO's integrated air-defense system in its central European front. The exercise involved the national air-defense systems of Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, with Général d'Armée Jean-Étienne Valluy, French Army, NATO's Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Central Europe (CINCENT), in overall command.[3] Operation Counter Punch revealed deficiencies in the Integrated NATO Air Defense System as well as air force responsiveness to theoretical Soviet and Warsaw Pact ground advances.[4]
AFCENT remained in France under French command until 1967, when France removed itself from the military command structure. The headquarters was moved to Brunssum in 1967 and activated under German command. In 2001 a British General was appointed as commander, setting up the rotation between Germany and the UK that is currently in use.
In 2000, the deactivation of Headquarters, Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH) in Kolsås, Norway led to the redesignation of AFCENT as Regional Headquarters, Allied Forces Northern Europe (RHQ AFNORTH). The headquarters operated as RHQ AFNORTH until 2004, when it was renamed Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFC-B) to add flexibility to the military command structure by removing regional restrictions.
Hendrick Camp is the headquarters and main base area of JFC Brunssum.[5] Other organizations located on Hendrik Camp are the NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency, Sector Brunssum (NCSA-B)[6] and the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Programme Management Agency (NAPMA).[7]
Hendrik Camp also boasts an all ranks club called Club 13, a small tax-free department store called the B&S Store, a film theatre, and a gymnasium. Additional services are provided by the AAFES on US Army Garrison Schinnen.
Static War Headquarters Castlegate is a NATO command and communications bunker located approximately 2 km north-east of the town of Linnich, Germany.[8] SWHQ Castlegate is operated in caretaker status by a German military contingent.[9]
During the Cold War, AFCENT was the higher headquarters for the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), the Central Army Group (CENTAG) (with III Corps, V Corps, VII Corps and II Corps from north to south) and Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE). The commanders of these units, called Principal Subordinate Commanders (PSC), had only limited peacetime authority. For example, the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was assigned to NORTHAG, but the PSC has little or no say in areas such as training, doctrine, logistics, and rules of engagement (ROE).
The U.S. III Corps was allocated as the AFCENT reserve. On activation, it would have deployed to Europe from bases in the United States. A forward element, 3rd Brigade, US 2nd Armored Division, was located at Garlstedt, Germany.[10] US III Corps also maintained a forward headquarters at Tapijn Kazerne, Maastricht, Netherlands.[11]
Today the three subordinate commands of JFC-B are Allied Force Command Heidelberg, the land component command, Allied Maritime Component Command Headquarters Northwood, at Northwood, and Allied Air Component Command, Ramstein, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Because of the NATO relationship with France, they install permanently a liaison-officer, who communicate on high level with the several commanders in charge. Different then by the commanders of AFCENT, always a General from the UK or Germany,the liaison-officer is always a high-ranking officer with the grade of Major or Colonel, and is mostly in a rotation of 4 years between the SAS-countries, The Netherlands and Belgium. By example, between 1978 and 1986, Air Force Major Paul De Wever, a Belgian high-ranking Officer, was in this function installed.
The commander of JFC-B is known as Commander, Joint Force Command Brunssum. The position was formerly known as Commander-in-Chief North (CINCNORTH) and Commander-in-Chief Central (CINCCENT). Based on a rotation, JFC-B is commanded alternately by a British or a German General. The current commander is German General Wolf-Dieter Langheld.
| Name | From | To | Title of Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf-Dieter Langheld (GER) | 29 September 2010 | --- | Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum |
| Egon Ramms (GER) | 26 January 2007 | 29 September 2010 | Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum |
| Gerhard W. Back (GER) | January 2004 | 26 January 2007 | until July 1, 2004 Commander in Chief Allied Forces North Europe; aftermath Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum |
| Sir Jack Deverell (GB) | March 2001 | January 2004 | Commander in Chief Allied Forces North Europe |
| Joachim Spiering (GER) | 30 March 1998 | March 2001 | until March 3, 2000 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe; aftermath Commander in Chief Allied Forces North Europe |
| Dieter Stöckmann (GER) | March1996 | 30 March 1998 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Helge Hansen (GER) | 1 April 1994 | March 1996 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Henning von Ondarza (GER) | 27 September 1991 | 23 March 1994 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Hans-Henning von Sandrart (GER) | 1 October 1987 | 27 September 1991 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Leopold Chalupa (GER) | 28 September 1983 | 1 October 1987 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Ferdinand von Senger und Etterlin (GER) | 1 October 1979 | 28 September 1983 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Franz-Joseph Schulze (GER) | 7 January 1977 | 30 September 1979 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Karl Schnell (GER) | 1 October 1975 | 7 January 1977 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Ernst Ferber (GER) | 1 October 1973 | 30 September 1975 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Jürgen Bennecke (GER) | 1 July 1968 | 30 September 1973 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Johann Adolf Graf von Kielmansegg (GER) | 15 March 1967 | 1 April 1968 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Jean Albert Emile Crépin (FR) | December 1963 | June 1966 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe; from July 1, 1966 France was no longer part of NATO's military command structure |
| Pierre-Élie Jacquot (FR) | March 1961 | December 1963 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Maurice Challe (FR) | May 1960 | February 1961 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Jean-Etienne Valluy (FR) | October 1956 | May 1960 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Alphonse Juin (FR) | 20 August 1953 | September 1956 | Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |