WASHINGTON — The US Army’s top general in Europe is leaving the service in the latest major military shakeup this year — with insiders attributing the move to internal War Department strife and a planned reduction in high-ranking officers.
Gen. Christopher Donahue, leader of NATO’s Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) and the US Army’s Europe and Africa component (USAREUR-AF), will retire July 2 and be replaced by his deputy, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie.
Donahue, 56, is best known as the “last soldier to leave Afghanistan” during the August 2021 US withdrawal — with his final moments on the ground captured in widely published night-vision images.
Four sources inside and close to the Pentagon described Donahue’s departure as voluntary, but attributed the decision to his frustration with management and the looming downgrade of his prestigious European post to a three-star role.
That change, coming as early as this summer, would have effectively forced the four-star Donahue to relinquish the command he held since December 2024.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll have repeatedly clashed over the past year — with Hegseth dismissing Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George in the middle of the Iran war this April and replacing him with Gen. Christopher LaNeve.
Donahue is not believed to have taken sides in the Hegseth-Driscoll feud, but “he was tired of dealing with the static of working under Hegseth and LaNeve,” the latter of whom is considered “very difficult” and is “disliked” by other senior Army officers, one source told The Post.
This person speculated that LaNeve’s prickly nature played a role in him winning favor with Hegseth, who intends to shrink the number of four-star generals and admirals by 20%.
The strained dynamics “get good officers to leave on their own … just like in the corporate world,” the source explained.
“LaNeve is very political, and he knows Pete is playing to an audience of one in the president. He already has a penchant for being aggressive, but he really leans into it, because he knows that’s what Pete wants.”
Another source confirmed LaNeve’s lack of popularity among longtime Army officers, but put that down to their resistance to change rather than the general’s personality.
Policy matters within Donahue’s portfolio, such as the May announcement and then reversal of a US troop withdrawal from Poland, are not believed to have motivated his resignation.
The retiring general was not loved by Hegseth and it’s unclear where Donahue might have landed had he sought to remain in the Army after his post was downgraded.
Donahue’s claim to fame as the “last soldier” to leave Afghanistan while serving as commander of the 82nd Airborne Division also irritated senior Pentagon staff, with two sources calling the images of the general leaving Kabul a “photo op.”
One source said military officials doubted Donahue was actually the last American to leave Afghanistan, citing a US helicopter in the background of those images as a contextual clue.
Another source claimed top Hegseth staffers had “s–t on” Donahue for allegedly using space on evacuation aircraft for memorabilia he intended to put in museums.
The Post could not independently verify that Donahue had done so.
The Army did not give a reason for Donahue’s departure in a statement announcing the change of command.
