Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum 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 Allied Joint Force Command Naples , Italy and Allied Joint Command Lisbon , Portugal . JFC - B also serves as the NATO higher headquarters for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan . History . The NATO command at Brunssum has been renamed twice due to reorganizations . Originally it was known as Headquarters , Allied Forces Central Europe ( AFCENT ) when it was activated in 1953 in Fontainebleau , France . 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 . 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 of the French Navy was appointed as Flag Officer Central Europe , and served from 2 April 51 until 20 August 1953 . On 20 August 1953 General Ridgeway , Eisenhower ' s sucessor , established a single Commander - in - Chief ( CINCENT ) for the region with subordinate land , air and naval commanders ( COMLANDCENT , COMAIRCENT , and COMNAVCENT respectively ) . Thus FLAGCENT became a Principle Subordinate Commander with the title of Commander , Allied Naval Forces Central Europe ( COMNAVCENT ) . 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 . 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 . After July 1962 and the establishment of Commander Allied Forces Baltic Approaches ( COMBALTAP ) , German naval forces were shifted into that command . 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 . 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 . Facilities . 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 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 . SWHQ Castlegate is operated in caretaker status by a German military contingent . Subordinate Commands . 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 . US III Corps also maintained a forward headquarters at Tapijn Kazerne , Maastricht , Netherlands . Today the subordinate commands of JFC - B are : A former subordiordinate command until March 2013 was : 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 General . The current commander is German Lieutenant General Hans - Lothar Domröse .