On 1 October 1972, the Northeast Command (NOREASCOM), Armed Forces of the Philippines, was organized and activated pursuant to General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Letter of Instruction 5/72, with an area of responsibility including: Cagayan, Ifugao, Isabela, Kalinga-Apayao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Aurora.

On 1 April 1984, General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines issued Letter of Instruction 1/84, which redesignated NORTHCOM as Regional Unified Command 2 (RUC 2).

On 1 April 87, General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines issued Letter of Instruction 3/87 creating a unified command spanning Regions 1 and 2.

On 29 March 1988, NOLCOM was reorganized as an area command covering Northern and Central Luzon.

On 15 January 2009, to further enhance and support its internal security operations campaign in Central and Northern Luzon, NOLCOM activated Joint Task Force Amihan, pursuant to Letter of Instruction 01-2009.