Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFC-B) is the
NATO military command based in
BrunssumBrunssum is a municipality and a town in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. Brunssum was formerly a center of coal mining in the Netherlands and there are a few active mines remaining in the area...
,
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. JFC-B reports to
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers EuropeSupreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...
(SHAPE) based at
CasteauCasteau is a village of Belgium in the French-speaking region. With the others villages Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies , and Thieusies, they compose the municipality of Soignies....
,
BelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. It is one of three operational level commands in the NATO command structure, the others being
Joint Force Command NaplesAllied Joint Force Command Naples is a NATO military command. It was activated on 15 March 2004, after what was effectively a redesignation of its predecessor command, Allied Forces Southern Europe , originally formed in 1951...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and
Joint Command LisbonAllied Joint Force Command Lisbon or JFC Lisbon is one of the three main subdivisions of NATO's Allied Command Operations. It is based in Oeiras, near Lisbon, Portugal...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. JFC-B also serves as the NATO higher headquarters for the
International Security Assistance ForceThe International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
in
AfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
History
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
FontainebleauFontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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'ArméeA Général d'Armée is the highest active military rank of the French Army.Officially, Général d'armée is not a rank , but a position and style bestowed on some Généraux de division in charge of important commands, such as chief of staff of the army...
Jean-Étienne ValluyJean Etienne Valluy was a French general .He was born in Rive-de-Gier, Loire, on 15 May 1899 to Claude Valluy and Jeanne, Adrienne Cossanges. In 1917 he entered the military academy of Saint-Cyr...
,
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
, NATO's Commander-in-Chief
Allied Forces Central EuropeJoint Force Command Brunssum is the NATO military command based in Brunssum, Netherlands. JFC-B reports to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe based at Casteau, Belgium. It is one of three operational level commands in the NATO command structure, the others being Joint Force Command...
(CINCENT), in overall command. Operation Counter Punch revealed deficiencies in the
Integrated NATO Air Defense SystemIntegrated NATO Air Defense System or INADS was the NATO response to the Russian development of long range bombers in the 1950s. The need to maintain a credible deterrence when early warning and intercept times were massively reduced led to the development of an improved air defense ...
as well as air force responsiveness to theoretical Soviet and Warsaw Pact ground advances.
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 EuropeAllied Forces Northern Europe was the most northern NATO command located at Kolsås outside Oslo. It was part of Allied Command Europe from around 1952 to 2003...
(AFNORTH) in
KolsåsKolsås is a wooded mountain ridge in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Geologically, Kolsås belongs to the Oslo Graben area. Its two peaks consist of hard rhomb porphyric lava covering softer rocks, forming steep cliffs to the east, south and west....
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
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.
Hendrik Camp
Hendrick Camp is the headquarters and main base area of JFC Brunssum. Other organizations located on Hendrik Camp are the NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency, Sector Brunssum (NCSA-B) and the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Programme Management Agency (NAPMA).
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 ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
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
LinnichLinnich is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, approx. 10 km north-west of Jülich.-Economy:Linnich is the home of SIG Combibloc the specialist for aseptic carton packaging....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. SWHQ Castlegate is operated in caretaker status by a
German militaryThe Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
contingent.
Subordinate Commands
During the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, AFCENT was the higher headquarters for the
Northern Army GroupThe Northern Army Group was a NATO military formation comprising four Western European Army Corps, during the Cold War as part of NATO's forward defence in the Federal Republic of Germany.- History :...
(NORTHAG), the Central Army Group (CENTAG) (with
III CorpsIII Corps was a corps of the German Army active from 1957 to 1994.The preparation of the staff of the corps took place from 16 March 1957 at Gneisenau-Kaserne, Koblenz; the corps was officially formed on 6th April 1957. Initially, the 2nd Panzergrenadier Division and 5th Armoured Division from the...
, V Corps, VII Corps and II Corps from north to south) and
Allied Air Forces Central EuropeAllied Air Forces Central Europe was the headquarters for NATO air forces in Central Europe from 1951 to 1967 and from 1974 to 1993.-History:It was first based at Fontainebleau , and originally activated in April 1951...
(AAFCE). The commanders of these units, called Principal Subordinate Commanders (PSC), had only limited peacetime authority. For example, the
British Army of the RhineThere have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...
(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. US III Corps also maintained a forward headquarters at Tapijn Kazerne,
MaastrichtMaastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, Netherlands.
Today the three subordinate commands of JFC-B are Allied
Force Command HeidelbergAllied Force Command Heidelberg is a unit with the NATO Military Command Structure responsible for providing Deployable Joint Staff Elements in support of NATO operations world-wide. HQ FC HB is garrisoned at Campbell Barracks, Germany and reports to Joint Force Command Brunssum, the Netherlands...
, the land component command, Allied Maritime Component Command Headquarters Northwood, at
NorthwoodNorthwood is a suburban area in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.The population was recorded as 11,068 in 2008, by the Office for National Statistics.-Toponomy:...
, and
Allied Air Component Command, RamsteinAllied Air Forces Central Europe was the headquarters for NATO air forces in Central Europe from 1951 to 1967 and from 1974 to 1993.-History:It was first based at Fontainebleau , and originally activated in April 1951...
, at
Ramstein Air BaseRamstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
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.
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). Based on a rotation, JFC-B is commanded alternately by a British or a German
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
. The current commander is German General Wolf-Dieter Langheld.
{
class="wikitable" |
Name |
From |
To |
Title of Command |
| Wolf-Dieter Langheld (GER) |
29 September 2010 |
--- |
Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum |
| Egon Ramms Egon Ramms is a retired German general who held numerous international commands. Ramms is a father of two.His last assignment was commander of NATO's Joint Force Command in Brunssum, the Netherlands...
(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 General Sir Jack Deverell KCB OBE was Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe.-Military career:...
(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 Dieter Stöckmann is a retired German general of the Bundeswehr. He was Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe from 1996-98.- Biography :Stöckmann was born in Stolp, Pomerania...
(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 Maurice Challe was a French general during the Algerian War, one of four generals who took part in the Algiers putsch...
(FR) |
May 1960 |
February 1961 |
Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Jean-Etienne Valluy Jean Etienne Valluy was a French general .He was born in Rive-de-Gier, Loire, on 15 May 1899 to Claude Valluy and Jeanne, Adrienne Cossanges. In 1917 he entered the military academy of Saint-Cyr...
(FR) |
October 1956 |
May 1960 |
Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
| Alphonse Juin - Early years :Juin was born at Bône in French Algeria, and enlisted in the French Army, graduating from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1912.- Career :...
(FR) |
20 August 1953 |
September 1956 |
Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe |
External links