U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, Commanding General of the XVIII Airborne Corps visited U.S. Soldiers from 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in Grafenwoehr Training Area, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Donahue was nominated on Nov. 15, 2024 to take command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. (Patrick Connelly/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, an officer with a long history in the Army’s most elite special operations units and known for being the last service member to step foot out of Afghanistan, was nominated Friday to serve as the next head of the Army in Europe.
If confirmed Donahue, who now serves as the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, would take command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa at its headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany.
President Joe Biden nominated Donahue for the top Army post in Europe as his tenure in the White House draws to a close. It’s not clear how soon the Senate will move to confirm Donahue.
Donahue, who will receive a fourth star if confirmed, would replace Gen. Darryl Williams, who has led the Army in Europe for nearly three years.
In Army circles, Donahue has been a major figure since entering the service in 1992 with roles as an Army Ranger and in the elite Delta Force. He deployed 20 times, including numerous stints in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, according to his Army biography.
In 2021, Donahue, then a major general, also played a key role in a crisis response effort to evacuate American citizens out of Afghanistan as conditions there deteriorated. He was memorably photographed boarding a C-17 at night in Kabul, weapon in hand, making him the last servicemember to leave the country.
He also has recent experience in Europe. In 2022, Donahue was part of an 82nd Airborne contingent that arrived in Germany shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Donahue’s team was among the first to arrive in Europe in connection with a Pentagon push to bolster NATO’s eastern flank amid concerns about potential Russian aggression.
The Army’s mission in Europe has expanded in recent years as the Pentagon has added forces and firepower to reassure allies and signal resolve to Russia. But there is also uncertainty about the future course of the mission.
It’s not yet clear what President-elect Donald Trump’s vision is for operations in Europe or if he wants to maintain the same level of troop commitments. Trump, during the end of his first term, sought to move large numbers of troops out of Germany. In the years since, conservatives in Trump’s orbit also have called for reducing troop levels in Europe and diverting assets to the Pacific to deal with the challenge China poses there.
