Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum

Joint Force Command Brunssum

HQ JFC Brunssum insignia
Active AFCENT: 1953-2000
RHQ AFNORTH: 2000-2004
JFC-Brunssum: 2004-present
Allegiance NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Part of Allied Command Operations, Casteau, Belgium
Headquarters Brunssum, Netherlands
Motto(s) Many Nations: One Mission
Commanders
Commander General Salvatore Farina, Italian Army
Deputy Commander Lieutenant general Juan Campíns, Spanish Army
Chief of Staff Lieutenant general Janusz Adamczak, Polish Army
Command Sergeant Major Chief warrant officer Paul Francis, Canadian Army

The Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum is a NATO command at Brunssum, the Netherlands.

History

Originally the command was known as Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) when it was activated in August 1953 in Fontainebleau, outside Paris, France.[1]

After General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in 1950, he found that devising command arrangements in the Central Region, which contained the bulk of NATO’s forces, was to be complicated.[2] General Eisenhower considered naming an overall Commander-in-Chief (CINC) for the Central Region but soon realized it would be difficult to find an arrangement that would satisfy all three major powers with forces in the Centre - the United States, United Kingdom and France - because their views on the proper relationship of air and ground power differed significantly.

Drawing upon his Second World War experience, Eisenhower decided to retain overall control himself and did not appoint a CINC for the Central Region. Instead there would be three separate commanders-in-chief (for Allied Air Forces Central Europe, Allied Land Forces Central Europe and Flag Officer Central Europe (FLAGCENT), all reporting directly to SACEUR. Vice Admiral Robert Jaujard of the French Navy was appointed as Flag Officer Central Europe, and served from 2 April 51 until 20 August 1953.[3] On 20 August 1953 General Ridgeway, Eisenhower's successor, established a single Commander-in-Chief (CINCENT) for the region with subordinate land, air and naval commanders (COMLANDCENT, COMAIRCENT, and COMNAVCENT respectively).[1]

Allied Forces Central Europe insignia

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.[4] 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.[5]

After July 1962 and the establishment of Commander Allied Forces Baltic Approaches (COMBALTAP), German naval forces were shifted into that command.[2] Thereafter there was no longer any need for the small headquarters of Allied Naval Forces Central Europe and its two subordinate commands, and they were disestablished in 1962, leaving naval liaison provided by a US naval officer.[1]

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.[1]

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.[6]

Circa 2010, JFC Brussum appears to be responsible for Contingency Plan Eagle Guardian, NATO's Article 5 plan to defend Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.[7]

Facilities

Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk Camp

Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk Camp is the headquarters and main base area of JFC Brunssum.[8] Other organizations located on Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk Camp are the NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency, Sector Brunssum (NCSA-B)[9] and the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Programme Management Agency (NAPMA).[10]

Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk Camp also boasts an all ranks club called Club 13, a small tax-free department store called the B&S Store, a film theatre, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a gymnasium. Additional services are provided by the AAFES on US Army Garrison Schinnen.

Static War Headquarters Castlegate

Static War Headquarters Castlegate is a NATO command and communications bunker located approximately 2 km north-east of the town of Linnich, Germany.[11] SWHQ Castlegate is operated in caretaker status by a German military contingent.[12]

Subordinate Commands in 1989

Command Structure of AFCENT in 1989 (click to enlarge)
NATO corps sectors in the Central Region in the 1980s

During the Cold War, AFCENT commanded the following units:

The III Corps (US) was allocated as NORTHAG 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.[13] US III Corps also maintained a forward headquarters at Tapijn Kazerne, Maastricht, Netherlands.[14]

Commanders

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). JFC-B is normally commanded by a German General but now is commanded by an Italian four-star general for the great contribution of the Italian armed forces to NATO. The current commander is General Salvatore Farina of the Italian Army.

Name From To Title of Command
Alphonse Juin (FR) 20 August 1953 September 1956 -
Jean-Etienne Valluy (FR) October 1956 May 1960 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Maurice Challe (FR) May 1960 February 1961 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Pierre-Élie Jacquot (FR) March 1961 December 1963 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
Johann Adolf Graf von Kielmansegg (GER) 15 March 1967 1 April 1968 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Jürgen Bennecke (GER) 1 July 1968 30 September 1973 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Ernst Ferber (GER) 1 October 1973 30 September 1975 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Karl Schnell (GER) 1 October 1975 7 January 1977 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Franz-Joseph Schulze (GER) 7 January 1977 30 September 1979 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
Leopold Chalupa (GER) 28 September 1983 1 October 1987 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
Henning von Ondarza (GER) 27 September 1991 23 March 1994 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Helge Hansen (GER) 1 April 1994 March 1996 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe
Dieter Stöckmann (GER) March 1996 30 March 1998 Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central 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
Sir Jack Deverell (GB) March 2001 January 2004 Commander in Chief Allied Forces North Europe
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
Egon Ramms (GER) 26 January 2007 29 September 2010 Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum
Wolf-Dieter Langheld (GER) 29 September 2010 14 December 2012 Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum
Hans-Lothar Domröse (GER) 14 December 2012 3 March 2016 Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum
Salvatore Farina (ITA) 4 March 2016 --- Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Allied Forces Central Europe". Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 Dr Gregory Pedlow, Evolution of NATO's Command Structure
  3. ↑ North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Senior officials in the NATO military structure, from 1949 to 2001 (PDF)
  4. ↑ "Emergency Call". Time. 30 September 1957. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  5. ↑ Trauschweizer, Igor (2006). Creating Deterrence for Limited War: The U.S. Army and the Defense of West Germany, 1953–1982 (PDF). College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland. p. 179. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "What is JFC Brunssum?". NATO. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Wikileaks/The Guardian, search Eagle Guardian
  8. ↑ AFNORTH: About us Archived October 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency Archived July 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "NAPMA | NATO AEW&C Programme Management Agency | Homepage". Napma.nato.int. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  11. ↑ "Militärstandorte um und in Aachen". Users.cuci.nl. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  12. ↑ Joint Force Command Brunssum Team
  13. ↑ Isby/Kamps, Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, p.373, 455, ISBN 0-7106-0341-X
  14. ↑ U.S. Military Forces and Installations in Europe, publishing date 1980s, p. 20 - 30 ish

Coordinates: 50°56′18.41″N 5°58′43.46″E / 50.9384472°N 5.9787389°E / 50.9384472; 5.9787389

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