In the year 451 CE, the Franks defeated an army under the leadership of Attila at Châlons-sur-Marne and thus ended the potential conquest of Western Europe by the Huns.

In the case of war the headquarters of the 2nd ATAF and NORTHAG would be relocated to the JOC (Joint Operations Center), a bunker complex in the former Cannerberg marl mine in the Maastricht area.

These reinforcements depended upon the air bridge across the Atlantic being opened and the vehicle depots being unharmed or protected from early Soviet action against them.

In the NATO defense plan, NORTHAG was assigned the area between Hamburg and Kassel (North-South) and the German-Dutch, Belgian to the (then) inner-German border to defend against a potential threat from the Warsaw Pact.

In the north the command bordered Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH) and in the south the Central Army Group (CENTAG).

Under General Sir Nigel Bagnall, NORTHAG tried to reorientate its defensive plans from a static defence to a more mobile approach.

In November 1992, the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina was provided with an operational headquarters drawn from HQ NORTHAG, including a staff of some 100 personnel, equipment, supplies and initial financial support.