Allied Air Forces Central Europe Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Rocquencourt. The task of AAFCE was to control and command allied air assets in the NATO Central Region [of Europe] in wartime. "Flight" magazine, in the first of a three-part feature on 26 June 1953, described AAFCE as already comprising two allied tactical air forces, Second Allied Tactical Air Force, under RAF Air Marshal Sir Robert Foster, comprising British-Dutch No. 2 Group RAF, Belgian-Dutch 69 Group (which later issues described as being responsible for 'Low Countries Air Defence' and being alternately under Dutch and Belgian officers), and British-Belgian No. 83 Group RAF. Fourth Allied Tactical
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe deployed in Europe. One of the most significant events in the history of Allied Command Europe (ACE) was France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military structure. This move forced SHAPE and several other ACE headquarters to leave French territory. France's resentment over NATO's military structure had been brewing for a number of years, as successive French governments had become increasingly incensed with Anglo-American domination of the command structure and insufficient French influence. In February 1966 President Charles de Gaulle stated that the changed world order had "stripped NATO of its justification" for military integration, and soon afterward, France stated that it