Gen. Christopher Donahue, the Army general commanding U.S. forces in Europe and Africa and NATO’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement provided to the Associated Press. The confirmation late Tuesday that Donahue is stepping down after just 18 months in the role adds him to a list of nearly two dozen top military leaders who have retired or departed their posts early under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has pursued a campaign to thin the senior officer corps under the stated goal of achieving “less generals, more GIs.”
Donahue’s deputy, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, will assume his duties in the interim, the statement said.
A West Point graduate and career special operations commander, Donahue has served in the military’s most demanding roles. He commanded Delta Force units in Iraq and Afghanistan before taking command of the 82nd Airborne Division in July 2020, a post he held until March 2022. It was during that command that he oversaw security at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
On Aug. 30, 2021, Donahue became the last American soldier to leave the country after nearly 20 years of war, a moment captured in an iconic photograph taken through night-vision goggles showing the general boarding the final C-17 cargo plane to depart. His leadership during the evacuation drew bipartisan praise. Within the Army, he was widely regarded as an officer of sufficient caliber to have been chosen to lead the service or serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an Army official told the AP.
President Donald Trump and Hegseth have made the withdrawal from Afghanistan a regular political target, despite the fact that the operation was set in motion by a treaty negotiated with the Taliban by the Trump administration during its first term. In May, Hegseth ordered a new Pentagon review of the withdrawal even after multiple previous reviews by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and Congress had already examined the operation through hundreds of interviews and analysis of videos, photographs and other footage.
An Army official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal discussions said Donahue’s departure comes as the Army is weighing whether to downgrade U.S. Army Europe and Africa from a four-star to a three-star command. That potential restructuring follows a pattern of criticism from Hegseth about European allies’ defense spending and commitment.
Last week, Hegseth told NATO allies he would conduct a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe “designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe.” He said it is “a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors.”
The Pentagon did not immediately comment on Donahue’s departure, which was first reported by The Atlantic.