Chris Donahue (general)

Chris Donahue
Official portrait, 2024
Birth name	Christopher Todd Donahue
Born	(1969-08-13) 13 August 1969 (age 55)
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1992–present
Rank	General
Commands	United States Army Europe and Africa Allied Land Command XVIII Airborne Corps 82nd Airborne Division NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan Delta Force 75th Ranger Regiment
Battles / wars	War in Afghanistan Iraq War Operation Inherent Resolve
Awards	Defense Superior Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (3) Bronze Star Medal (5)
Alma mater	U.S. Military Academy Naval War College Harvard University

Christopher Todd Donahue ^[1] (born 13 August 1969) is a United States Army general who has served as the commanding general of United States Army Europe and Africa and commander of Allied Land Command since 10 December 2024. ^[2] He most recently served as the commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps from 2022 to 2024. ^[3] He previously served as commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division from 2020 to 2022. Throughout his career, Donahue served in staff and command positions for both United States Army and Special Operations units. ^[4]

Education

Donahue presents an award to CH (LTC) Brian Koyn for his religious leadership of the 82nd Airborne Division on 8 June 2021

Donahue graduated from Pennsylvania's Chambersburg Area Senior High School in 1987, and then attended Wyoming Seminary. ^{[5] [6]} In 1988 he began attendance at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He graduated in 1992 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Infantry Branch of the United States Army.

Career

Donahue boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Kabul airport as the final international military personnel to depart Afghanistan.

His first assignment was rifle platoon leader with 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth Army in South Korea, followed by service at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment as company executive officer. Donahue then received assignment as rifle company commander in the 5th Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 193rd Infantry Brigade in Fort Kobbe, Panama. In 1998 Donahue transferred to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment as assistant operations officer, rifle company commander, and headquarters company commander. ^[7] He was then assigned to Washington, DC as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 2002 Donahue volunteered for and completed a specialized selection and operator training course for assignment to the army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, publicly known as Delta Force, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He would serve numerous leadership positions as assistant operations officer, squadron operations officer, squadron executive officer, troop commander, selection and training detachment commander, operations officer, squadron commander, deputy commander and unit commander. ^[8]

Donahue earned a master's degree from the Naval Command and Staff College, Naval War College and completed an Army War College Fellowship at Harvard University in 2013. ^[9]

Donahue's deployments include Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Freedom Sentinel and Operation Inherent Resolve. He planned, rehearsed and operated during classified operations in Eastern Europe, Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Africa.

Donahue's most recent assignments include: Director of Operations, Joint Special Operations Command; the Commandant, United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning; Deputy commanding General (maneuver) of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson; Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counterterrorism, J-37 Joint Staff; Commanding General, NATO Special Operations Component Command/Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan, Resolute Support Mission, 2019–2020; and the Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division from 2020 to 2021. ^[10]

In February 2022, he was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps, succeeding Michael Kurilla. ^{[11] [12]}

In November 2024, Donahue was nominated for promotion to general and assignment as the commanding general of United States Army Europe-Africa and Allied Land Command. ^{[13] [14]} The nomination was placed on hold due to senatorial questions regarding his handling of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021. ^{[15] [16]} On 2 December, the hold was lifted, and Donahue was promoted to four-star general. ^[17]

9/11 attacks

On the morning of 11 September 2001, Donahue, who was a captain at that time, was on Capitol Hill accompanying Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, to whom he was an aide. Myers was scheduled to meet Georgia Senator Max Cleland for a courtesy call before his Senate confirmation hearing to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. ^{[18] [19] [20]} Later-on, Donahue received first-hand intelligence report that a hijacked plane had hit the south tower of the World Trade Center and informed Myers of the hijacking and the current situation. ^{[20] [19] [18]} At one point Donahue also lent his cell phone to Myers who used it to call General Ralph Eberhart, the Commander-in-Chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, to get further information regarding the situation. Immediately, Donahue and Myers proceeded to The Pentagon. ^{[20] [19] [18]} When Myers' Lincoln Town Car had almost arrived at The Pentagon, Donahue informed Myers that he saw smoke arise from The Pentagon and at that point they learned that The Pentagon had also been hit by one of the commercial aircraft that was hijacked that day, later identified to be American Airlines Flight 77. ^{[18] [19]} They arrived at The Pentagon a few moments after the plane had hit, and immediately rendezvoused with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. ^{[18] [20] [19]} Myers was designated as Acting-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time of the attack, because Chairman General Hugh Shelton was en-route to Europe for an upcoming NATO summit, and Donahue remained with him throughout the day. ^{[19] [20] [18]}

Awards and decorations

U.S. military decorations Defense Superior Service Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device and four oak leaf clusters Defense Meritorious Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster Joint Service Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster Army Achievement Medal U.S. Unit Awards Presidential Unit Citation Joint Meritorious Unit Award Meritorious Unit Commendation with four oak leaf clusters U.S. Service (Campaign) Medals and Service and Training Ribbons National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star Afghanistan Campaign Medal with service star Iraq Campaign Medal with one silver and one bronze service star Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal with service star Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Korea Defense Service Medal Army Service Ribbon Army Overseas Service Ribbon with bronze award numeral 4 NATO Medal for service with ISAF

Badges Combat Infantryman Badge Expert Infantryman Badge Ranger Tab Master Parachutist Badge with XVIII Airborne Corps background trimming Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge Air Assault Badge Egyptian Parachutist Badge 82nd Airborne Division Distinctive Unit Insignia Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge United States Army Special Operations Command Combat Service Identification Badge 14 Overseas Service Bars

See also

• Boris Gromov, the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan

References

1. "Christopher Todd Donahue". West Point Association of Graduates. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
2. "Webcast: U.S. Army Europe and Africa Change of Command". DVIDS. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
3. "Lieutenant General Christopher T. Donahue (USA)". GOMO. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
4. "Inside the Final Hours at Kabul Airport". defenseone.com. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
5. "Cadets Accepted". Public Opinion . Chambersburg, PA. 14 October 1988. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Sem's Football Grads to Play In Fall". Times Leader . Wilkes-Barre, PA. 2 June 1988. p. 2C – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Brigadier General Christopher T. Donahue, Infantry School Commandant, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence". Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
8. "Biographical Data Book National Defense University Class 2019-1 17 Sep – 19 Oct 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
9. "New Leader in Command at Fort Benning's Infantry School". wltz.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020.
10. "General Officer Assignments". Archived from the original on 2 June 2020.
11. "PN1749 - 1 nominee for Army, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2 February 2022.
12. Shane, Leo III (18 February 2022). "Kurilla confirmed as new CENTCOM head by the Senate". Defense News.
13. "PN2157 — Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue — Army, 118th Congress (2023-2024)". U.S. Congress. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
14. "General Officer Announcements". U.S. Department of Defense. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
15. Liebermann, Oren; Fox, Lauren (25 November 2024). "Republican senator blocks promotion of general who oversaw Afghanistan withdrawal | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
16. Kheel, Rebecca (25 November 2024). "GOP Senator Stalls Promotion of General Who Became Symbol of Afghanistan Withdrawal". Military.com. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
17. Liebermann, Oren (2 December 2024). "Army general who oversaw Afghanistan withdrawal promoted to four-star officer after GOP senator drops hold". CNN. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
18. "Myers Remembers September 11, 2001, Says Lessons Still Can Be Learned". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
19. Myers, Richard B. (2009). Eyes on the horizon : serving on the front lines of national security. Malcolm McConnell (1st ed.). New York: Threshold. ISBN   978-1-4165-6012-8. OCLC   209700194.
20. "Why a 2-star general was the last American service member to leave Afghanistan". taskandpurpose.com. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.

Military offices
Preceded by James J. Mingus	Deputy Commanding General (Maneuver) of the 4th Infantry Division 2016–2017	Succeeded by David Hodne
Preceded by Peter L. Jones	Commandant of the United States Army Infantry School 2017–2018	Succeeded by Townley R. Hedrick
Preceded by Albert Elton	Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counterterrorism of the Joint Staff 2018–2019	Succeeded by Marcus S. Evans
	Commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force–Afghanistan and NATO Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan 2019–2020
Preceded by James J. Mingus	Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division 2020–2022	Succeeded by Christopher LaNeve
Preceded by Michael Kurilla	Commanding General of XVIII Airborne Corps 2022–2024	Succeeded by Gregory K. Anderson
Preceded by Darryl A. Williams	Commanding General of United States Army Europe and Africa and Commander of Allied Land Command 2024–present	Incumbent