Chris Donahue (general)

Christopher Todd Donahue (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. He most recently served as the commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg from 2022 to 2024. During that time he developed a partnership with the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to assist them in fighting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, shortly after the conflict began. He previously served as commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division from 2020 to 2022. Throughout his career, Donahue has served in both staff and command positions for the United States Army, including in Delta Force, and has worked with the Central Intelligence Agency on operations in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Education

Donahue graduated from Pennsylvania's Chambersburg Area Senior High School in 1987, and then attended Wyoming Seminary. 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.

Early military career

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Senior military career

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.

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.

In February 2022, he was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps, succeeding Michael Kurilla. About two months later, he met with senior Ukrainian military commanders to begin their partnership with the U.S. during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This included providing Ukraine with intelligence and armaments. The XVIII Airborne Corps under Donahue was tasked with delivering the armaments and training the Ukrainians on their use by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. According to ''The New York Times'', the cooperation between Donahue and the Ukrainian general Mykhailo Zabrodskyi was critical in the military support from the U.S. and other NATO countries to Ukraine. This was done out of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, where the U.S. and other NATO military and intelligence officers set up facilities for managing the operation in support of Ukraine. Towards the end of the year, Donahue and the XVIII Corps were replaced in this role by Antonio Aguto, the head of the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine. Donahue helped establish the group in late 2022, created for the purpose of continuing in the longer-term the mission that the Corps had done up until then.

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. The nomination was placed on hold due to senatorial questions regarding his handling of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021. On 2 December, the hold was lifted, and Donahue was promoted to four-star general. In this position, Donahue returned to the role of overseeing the U.S. assistance to Ukraine.

Awards and decorations

See also

* Boris Gromov, the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Christopher T.
1969 births
Living people
United States Military Academy alumni
United States Army Rangers
College of Naval Command and Staff alumni
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
United States Army generals
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal