Yesterday’s abrupt retirement announcement by Gen. Chris Donahue, the Commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) and NATO’s Allied Land Command, was made at the request of the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, people familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal. Prior to this announcement, many believed Donahue was on a fast track to become Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, having led the Army’s Delta Force commandos in Iraq and Syria when it took the fight to Islamic State militants and was the “last man out” when the troops he commanded at the 82nd Airborne Division were called in to secure the 2021 evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghan allies from Kabul, Afghanistan. General Donahue’s removal is said to be part of an ongoing push by Hegseth to put his imprint on the military’s leadership, while squeezing out officers with track records of battlefield valor and command experience in favor of less accomplished political loyalists, officers that fully support both himself and President Trump.
