Army Europe and Africa commander Chris Donahue submits retirement papers

Gen. Chris Donahue has submitted his retirement papers after clashing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a departure that adds another high-level name to the Pentagon’s senior turnover under the second Trump administration. Donahue, who led U.S. Army Europe and Africa, was among the Army’s most visible four-star officers and had been in the job for less than two years.

Donahue’s profile inside the Army has been shaped by a career that included West Point, Delta Force and command of the 82nd Airborne Division. He became widely known during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, when he boarded the final U.S. aircraft out of Kabul on Aug. 30, 2021, making him the last American soldier to leave the country. He assumed command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa in December 2024, taking over a headquarters that works alongside NATO’s Allied Land Command in Wiesbaden, Germany, and supports Army operations across Europe and Africa.

The retirement comes after months of uncertainty around the command’s future. In May, reports said the Pentagon planned to downgrade the Army’s Europe-Africa post from a four-star to a three-star billet by mid-summer, a move that raised questions about U.S. force posture in Europe and about Donahue’s own role. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis publicly warned that such a downgrade would be “another step down a dangerous path,” and criticized what he called careless decisions on Europe force posture.

For U.S. forces in Europe and Africa, the issue reaches beyond one officer’s exit. U.S. Army Europe and Africa is the Army’s theater headquarters for both regions, working in support of U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command and the Department of the Army, while also operating beside NATO land command structures. Donahue’s departure, combined with the earlier removal of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, underscores how quickly senior leadership has been shifting under Hegseth, a pace that could complicate continuity, staff morale and coordination with allies at a time when U.S. commitments in Europe remain under close scrutiny.