Source: armytimes.com – Todd South – Last American soldier to leave Afghanistan to command US Army Europe
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 (…). 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. (…)
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. (…)
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Photo © Pfc. Alexcia Rupert, US Army, 2023, as published in ibid
