Gen. Christopher Donahue, the commanding general of U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa, will relinquish his command on July 2 after submitting retirement papers at War Secretary Pete Hegseth's request. Donahue, a West Point graduate, former Delta Force leader, and the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in August 2021, is the latest in a string of more than two dozen senior military leaders to depart under Hegseth's tenure.
The Army confirmed the move in a terse statement provided to Fox News Digital: "The Army thanks Gen. Donahue for his leadership of U.S. Army Europe and Africa." The Pentagon did not offer additional comment. Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, Donahue's deputy, will assume his duties once the transfer takes effect.
The departure lands at a moment when Hegseth is pressing NATO allies to shoulder more of Europe's own defense burden and openly discussing whether to downgrade the very command Donahue held from a four-star to a three-star billet. For the administration, the move fits a deliberate pattern. For critics, it raises questions about whether the pace and breadth of senior-officer departures are weakening command continuity at a time of real strategic risk.
Donahue's résumé reads like a highlight reel of post-9/11 American military operations. He led Delta Force units in Iraq and Afghanistan during some of the most intense years of both wars. He took command of the 82nd Airborne Division in July 2020 and was brought in to oversee security at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic August 2021 evacuation from Kabul.
That evacuation airlifted roughly 124,000 Afghan citizens, but it was also scarred by an ISIS-K suicide bombing at Abbey Gate that killed 13 U.S. service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians. Fox News noted that U.S. Marines, not Donahue's forces, were in charge of securing Abbey Gate at the time of the attack.
Donahue became an indelible image of the withdrawal's final moments when he boarded a C-17 cargo plane on August 30, 2021, as the last American soldier to depart Afghan soil, closing out nearly 20 years of war that began after September 11.
After Afghanistan, Donahue pivoted to Europe. He coordinated military aid to Ukraine following Russia's invasion in February 2022. The Associated Press reported that he was once thought to have the potential to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Biden appointed him to the U.S. Army Europe and Africa command in December 2024.
Sean Naylor, a special operations expert, told Newsmax that Donahue earned deep respect across the military:
"As an officer who proved himself in combat leading the Army's most elite troops during the toughest years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Donahue is widely respected across both the special operations and conventional parts of the military."
None of that, apparently, was enough to insulate him from the broader restructuring Hegseth has set in motion.
Donahue's exit did not happen in a vacuum. The Washington Examiner reported that Donahue submitted his resignation letter after reportedly clashing with Hegseth, making him the latest in a line of more than two dozen high-ranking Pentagon officials to retire or be ousted. That list already includes Navy Secretary John Phelan, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown, and former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, who was fired in April.
The pace has been brisk enough to draw scrutiny from Senate Republicans pressing Hegseth on whether the churn is undermining readiness.
Hegseth has made no secret of his rationale. He has sought to shrink the number of generals and prioritize adding new enlisted soldiers, more trigger-pullers, fewer stars. He fired the Army's top lawyer, Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, and the Air Force's top lawyer, Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, saying he didn't think they were "well-suited" to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given, the Associated Press reported. President Trump earlier fired Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and Hegseth followed by dismissing Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Gen. James Slife.
The AP described the cumulative effect plainly: "a new wave of apprehension through the Pentagon," with military and civilian workers growing uneasy that anyone could be next.
Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez offered little clarity when asked about Donahue's case, telling reporters: "The Department will not give comment for decisions that may be pre-decisional nor will we comment on alleged internal discussions."
The New York Post reported that Donahue's departure was driven by frustration with management dysfunction inside the Pentagon, personality conflicts with Army Chief Gen. LaNeve, and the planned downgrade of his four-star post to a three-star role. An anonymous Pentagon insider told the Post that Donahue "was tired of dealing with the static of working under Hegseth and LaNeve."
Another anonymous source framed it in corporate terms: "The strained dynamics get good officers to leave on their own... just like in the corporate world."
That planned downgrade carries a concrete personal consequence for Donahue. Because he has not held his fourth star for the requisite three years, he will need a presidential waiver to retire at four-star rank and retain the corresponding benefits. Whether President Trump grants that waiver remains an open question, and one that carries obvious leverage.
The broader question of how Hegseth's reshaping of Pentagon leadership affects the institution's ability to execute its mission is harder to answer. Supporters see a long-overdue clearing of a bloated officer corps that grew complacent during two decades of inconclusive wars. Skeptics worry about institutional memory walking out the door while Russia holds a land war in Ukraine and NATO allies look to Washington for steady signals.
Donahue's exit coincides with Hegseth's pointed message to NATO allies. Speaking to officials in Brussels, Hegseth announced a six-month review of American forces in Europe and left no ambiguity about its purpose:
"This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe. It's a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors."
The language tracks with the administration's broader posture: Europe must carry more of its own weight. Discussions inside the Army about downgrading U.S. Army Europe and Africa from a four-star to a three-star command fit that logic. A smaller American footprint, led by a lower-ranking officer, sends a structural signal that no speech alone could deliver.
Hegseth also ordered a new investigation last May into the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, the same withdrawal that made Donahue a household name. Earlier probes by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department, and Congress have already examined the evacuation. The findings of those earlier reviews, and the status of Hegseth's new investigation, remain unclear from available reporting.
President Trump attacked President Biden over the Afghanistan withdrawal for years. Whether the new probe is designed to produce accountability or simply to keep the political wound open is a question the administration has not answered directly. Either way, the man who was literally the last boots on the ground in Kabul is now being shown the door.
Several questions hang over Donahue's departure. Will Trump grant the presidential waiver for four-star retirement benefits? Has the decision to downgrade the European command been formally made, or is it still under discussion? And who, specifically, are the more than two dozen senior military leaders who have left under Hegseth, and what commands did they hold?
The administration has framed each departure as part of a necessary reform. Previous Hegseth-driven removals have followed a similar script: a brief official statement, no detailed public explanation, and a deputy stepping into the vacancy.
There is a reasonable case for trimming a top-heavy officer corps. The military's general-officer ranks expanded during the war on terror, and not every billet justified the stars pinned to it. Hegseth's instinct to redirect resources toward frontline troops rather than flag-officer overhead reflects a priority that many rank-and-file service members, and many taxpayers, share.
But reform and disruption are not the same thing. When more than two dozen generals and admirals leave in a compressed window, and the Pentagon's own spokesman declines to comment on the rationale, the burden falls on leadership to demonstrate that the churn is strategic rather than chaotic. So far, internal friction and personnel turbulence have outpaced any public accounting of what the restructured Pentagon is supposed to look like when the dust settles.
Donahue's record speaks for itself: Delta Force, the 82nd Airborne, the last plane out of Kabul, the early months of Ukraine aid. The administration may have sound reasons for wanting new leadership in Europe. But when you push out a combat-tested four-star and replace him with a two-star deputy while openly discussing whether the job even needs a four-star anymore, the signal to allies and adversaries alike is hard to miss.
Accountability at the Pentagon is overdue. The question is whether this is accountability, or just turnover.
