A career special operations veteran who was featured in a hazy green, night vision photo as the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan has been nominated to pin a fourth star and lead the U.S. Army in Europe.
Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue’s name was on a list of Pentagon-recommended general officer nominations released Nov. 15. If confirmed by the Senate, he could receive the promotion and take command in the coming weeks or months.
Following decades in the special operations community, Donahue took command of the Army Infantry School and its Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team in 2017. He then served as deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism for the Joint Chiefs of Staff before taking over in May 2019 as commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan.
Donahue left that post to command the 82nd Airborne Division in July 2020, then assumed command of XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, in March 2022, according to his official biography.
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The XVIII Airborne Corps houses some of the most deployed operational units in the conventional Army, including the 10th Mountain Division, 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division and 3rd Infantry Division.
But despite those lofty leadership posts, the general public is likely most familiar with Donahue due to the Aug. 30, 2021 photograph. The picture, taken from the back of a C-17 plane on an airfield at Karzai International Airport, shows Donahue boarding the aircraft, in full combat kit, with his M4 carbine at his side.
Donahue’s career has been largely defined by the Global War on Terror, even as he was selected to lead the Army’s operational units into new fights against new and resurfaced adversaries.
The general began his career in the shadow of the Cold War, commissioning as a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1992 following his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, according to his official biography.
He first served as a platoon leader in Korea before assuming the same role with units at Fort Polk, Louisiana (now Fort Johnson), and Fort Benning, Georgia (now Fort Moore).
As young captain, Donahue was working with Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when the attacks on 9/11 shook the United States.
Donahue subsequently went to Army Special Operations Command and would go on to complete 18 overseas deployments.
While with the command he served with the secretive 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, also known as Delta Force, and eventually commanded a Delta troop in Iraq and a Delta squadron in Afghanistan, Army Times previously reported.
“I have deployed to combat at every rank, from captain to two-star general,” Donahue said previously.
If confirmed, Donahue would take over the Army’s Europe-based assets and personnel during a critical time as the United States continues in its support of NATO allies and Ukraine through training and military equipment.
Donahue’s recommendation for promotion by the Pentagon came on a list that included 29 Army colonels, who were recommended for promotion to brigadier general, and Brig. Gen. Eugene Cox, who is recommended for promotion to major general.
Lt. Gen. Donahue’s staff did not provide a statement regarding the nomination.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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