General Chris “C. D.” Donahue was the last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal. As the head of Army forces in Europe and Africa, he has helped bolster Ukraine in its fight to repel the Russian invasion. Now Donahue has become the latest casualty in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s purge of the military’s senior ranks.
Donahue’s abrupt departure, after just 18 months in his role, is another sign of the upheaval. He was widely seen as one of the Army’s rising stars—a legendary Delta Force leader who was considered a top candidate for Army chief of staff or even chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—having distinguished himself in wars of the past two decades. But Hegseth has sought to oust anyone who doesn’t fit his idea of a military leader, including those involved in the calamitous American exit from Kabul under President Biden—no matter how well they performed there. Donahue is expected to announce as soon as tomorrow that he will be relinquishing his post later this summer, two people familiar with the matter told us.
A career Ranger and Special Operations commander, Donahue served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, climbing through the ranks during two decades of counterterrorism wars. As the U.S. military shifted its focus from hunting terrorist networks to preparing for conflicts against technologically sophisticated adversaries, Donahue did as well. In recent years, he took on a top role in Europe as the Pentagon adapted lessons from Ukraine and other modern battlefields. His departure continues the exit of a generation of combat-tested leaders at a time when Hegseth is reshaping the military’s senior ranks under a banner of “less generals, more GIs.” Once Donahue leaves, the military is also expected to downgrade U.S. Army Europe and Africa from a four-star command to three, as part of the military’s effort to consolidate commands. Whether Donahue’s departure would coincide with the downgrading wasn’t immediately clear. President Trump and Hegseth are reviewing the military’s footprint in Europe, pressing governments there to take on a greater defense burden and amid friction over other NATO members’ reluctance to join the war in Iran. (The Army declined to comment.)
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On the night of August 30, 2021, Donahue was seen in a hazy night-vision image boarding the final U.S. military plane to leave Kabul, at 11:59 p.m., just ahead of the deadline.
Hegseth, who reached the rank of major in the Army National Guard following deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, has repeatedly criticized those associated with the Afghanistan withdrawal and is now overseeing an investigation. The U.S. exit was was marred by the death of 13 service members in a suicide attack at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate and the return of Taliban rule.
Donahue was positioned to help reshape the way that the Army wages war. He had been leading the service’s effort to take lessons from Ukraine and apply them to future conflicts. His departure follows that of General Randy George, the Army chief of staff whom Hegseth forced out this spring. George had been tasked with restocking key air-defense munitions, which have been seriously depleted by the Iran war.
Donahue would be at least the sixth three- or four-star Army general to depart unexpectedly, out of the roughly 60 generals in the service who hold those ranks. They include the well-regarded General James Mingus, a former Army vice chief of staff. “It’s interesting that the guy who says he wants to bring back the warrior culture is expunging the biggest warriors in the Army ranks,” one retired Army officer told us. “This is not a war on woke. This is a war on warriors.”
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Donahue, who is 56, is a Pennsylvania native and a West Point graduate. He was on Capitol Hill on 9/11 with Richard Myers, then the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He went on to command the 82nd Airborne Division, among other senior posts.
The departures in the most senior ranks have become so frequent—and sudden—that Senate Democrats added a line in the latest Pentagon budget proposal calling for congressional notification before officer promotions are delayed or withheld. Donahue’s deputy, Major General Christopher Norrie, will serve as acting commander when Donahue departs, people familiar with the matter told us. Lieutenant General Kevin Admiral, who is expected to be the administration’s candidate to replace Donahue, they said, has yet to be nominated.
