Command Component Land Heidelberg Allied Force Command Heidelberg ( HQ FC HD ) was a unit with the NATO Military Command Structure responsible for providing Deployable Joint Staff Elements ( DJSE ) in support of NATO operations world - wide . HQ FC HB was garrisoned at Campbell Barracks , Germany and reports to Joint Force Command Brunssum , the Netherlands . HQ FC HB provided command and control elements for the International Security Assistance Force , Afghanistan . It was closed down in a ceremony on 14 . March 2013 . History . The Central Army Group ( CENTAG ) was established in 1952 and assigned to work with US Army Europe at Campbell Barracks , Heidelberg , Germany . When the Bundeswehr was activated in 1955 , some German personnel were assigned to the plans section of CENTAG . In April 1959 , the plans section of CENTAG became Headquarters , Central Army Group and was commanded by an American general . It remained at Campbell Barracks and was charged with defending southern Germany against any prospective Soviet attack . It consisted of the , the German III Corps , the US V Corps , and the US VII Corps . In August 1961 , CENTAG was relocated to Hammonds Barracks , Seckenheim , Germany and remained there until December 1980 when NATO determined coordination was better when three headquarters were located on the same installation . CENTAG was returned to Campbell Barracks to be collocated with the 4th Allied Tactical Air Force ( 4 ATAF ) and the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force - Land ( AMF ( L ) ) . Structural changes began in June 1993 , when CENTAG and the Northern Army Group ( NORTHAG ) , Mönchengladbach , Germany were deactivated and combined to form Allied Land Forces Central Europe ( LANDCENT ) , which was activated in Heidelberg on 1 July 1993 . LANDCENT ' s mission was to : At the lower level , all strictly national corps in the central region were superseded , in wartime plans terms at least , by the mid 1990s . All NATO corps , except for the , were then multinational . In the mid - late 1990s there were four multinational main defence corps in NATO ' s Central Region : one Danish - German ( LANDJUT ) , one Dutch - German ( I . GE / NL Corps ) and two German - United States ( II GE / US and V US / GE ) . The two German - United States corps were strictly wartime command organisations . Originally , LANDCENT command was to be rotated between German and Dutch generals . In 1996 , The commander of US Army Europe ( USAREUR ) assumed an additional role as commander of LANDCENT with General William W . Crouch assuming command . The dual command of USAREUR and LANDCENT allowed the continued integration of American forces into NATO ' s post - Cold War structure . In addition , an agreement was made which set out the arrangements under which the European Corps ( Eurocorps ) , consisting of units from Belgium , France , Germany , Luxembourg , and Spain , would be made available to NATO in times of crisis . Beginning in 1993 , LANDCENT provided troops in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia . In 1995 , LANDCENT provided troops for the Implementation Force ( IFOR ) and later served as the headquarters of the Stabilization Force ( SFOR ) in Bosnia - Herzegovina . When NATO acted in Kosovo in 1999 , LANDCENT began operations in Pristina , Kosovo and Skopje , Republic of Macedonia and would serve as the headquarters for the Kosovo Force ( KFOR ) . Reorganisation . The departure from the Cold War era brought the implementation of a new NATO Integrated Military Structure and LANDCENT was formally designated as Joint Headquarters Centre ( JHQ CENT ) in a ceremony held in March 2000 . The new structure , which accompanied this designation , included personnel from five additional nations : the Czech Republic , Hungary , Italy , Norway and Poland - making a total of 12 NATO Nations contributing to the Headquarters . In July 2004 , JHQ CENT was once again reorganised and designated as Component Command - Land Headquarters , Heidelberg ( CC - Land HQ HB ) . In 2006 , NATO recognised the need for a more flexible command and control structure . To augment the current operational level commands , NATO experimented with the use of Deployable Joint Staff Elements ( DJSE ) . The DJSE allow Joint Force Command Brunssum , Joint Force Command Naples , and Joint Command Lisbon to command multiple operations from their home headquarters . CC - Land HQ HB was chosen to test the concept , and was designated Force Command Heidelberg ( HQ FC HB ) in 2010 . The first operation in which the DJSE have played a role is commanding the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) , Afghanistan . Since January 1 , 2013 , Headquarters Allied Force Command Heidelberg ( HQ FC Heidelberg ) has entered the first phase for deactivation as part of NATO ' s transformation . The newly activated Allied Land Command ( LANDCOM ) , located in Izmir , Turkey , will assume responsibilities from Force Command Heidelberg in Germany as well as Force Command Madrid in Spain . The deactivation finally was on March 14 , 2013 .