Lasting between 1946 and 2002, the army corps-strength FBA-BSD formed part of the NATO force guarding Western Europe against Warsaw Pact during the Cold War.

In the aftermath of World War II, the Belgian Army of Occupation (Armée belge d'occupation, or ABO; Belgische Bezettingsleger, BBL) was deployed to Allied-occupied Germany alongside other forces from the former Western Allies.

Belgian units were sent to the southernmost section of the British occupation zone in the region between Aachen, Cologne, Soest, Siegen, and Kassel in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Belgian Forces in Germany (Forces belges en Allemagne or FBA, Belgische strijdkrachten in Duitsland, BSD), now renamed, changed from being an "army of occupation" to being an "army of protection" guarding a 60 kilometres (37 mi)-wide strip of German territory against possible attack by the Warsaw Pact.

[5] The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces in Brussels held a temporary exhibition on the subject, entitled "Belgian soldiers in Germany, 1945–2002", in 2011.