Chris Donahue (general)
Christopher Todd Donahue is a United States Army general who has served as the Commanding General, [United States Army Europe and Africa|commanding general] of United States Army Europe and Africa and commander of Allied Land Command since 2024.
Donahue was born in Pennsylvania. He graduated from the United States Military Academy and was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1992. Donahue spent over two decades in the Army Special Operations Command, becoming a member of Delta Force, and eventually its commander. He was on constant deployments during that time, which included leading Delta Force units during the Iraq War and the war in [Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan], and working with the Central Intelligence Agency in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. Donahue's awards include two Bronze Star Medals with valor.
In 2021, while commanding the 82nd Airborne Division, he was in charge of security at the airport in Kabul and was one of the commanders of the 2021 [Kabul airlift|international evacuation from Afghanistan]. After serving as commander of the 82nd Airborne from 2020 to 2022, he was the commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg from 2022 to 2024. Donahue developed a partnership with leaders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was critical in the U.S. and NATO assistance to that country. As commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, he again oversees assistance to Ukraine.
Early life and education
Christopher Todd Donahue was born in Pennsylvania, on 13 August 1969, and is an native of Chambersburg. He graduated from Pennsylvania's Chambersburg Area Senior High School, where he had been on the football team, 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. He also completed the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses.Early military career
His first assignment was rifle platoon leader with the 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth Army in South Korea in 1993, followed by service at Fort Polk, Louisiana with the 509th Infantry Regiment in 1994, and 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment as company executive officer, from 1994 to 1996. 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, until 2001; 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 until 2002. 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
After his time at The Pentagon, Donahue served in the United States Army Special Operations Command and held commands at levels from a troop to a brigade, including as the commander of Delta Force. He had deployments at every rank that he held from captain to major general, which took place during Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Freedom's Sentinel, and Operation Inherent Resolve. He worked with the Central Intelligence Agency on operations in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, and spent much of his special operations career in Iraq and Syria. During that time, his commands reportedly included a Delta Force troop during the Iraq War and a Delta Force squadron during the War in Afghanistan. He also directed covert operations in Libya after the fall of Gaddafi, and in Syria, Donahue built a partnership with Kurdish groups during the war against the Islamic State. He also served as the officer in charge of Delta Force selection around 2009.Donahue's awards include five Bronze Star Medals, two of them with the "V" device for valor in combat. He 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.
After attending Harvard, Colonel Donahue was a brigade commander in USASOC, commanding Delta Force from 2013 to 2015, before becoming the Director of Operations at Joint Special Operations Command. He was later the Commandant of the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, from August to October 2017, and was promoted to general (United States)|brigadier general] in September. Donahue was Deputy Commanding General of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, from October 2017 to May 2018, and was deployed to Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Donahue was then deputy director for Special Operations and Counterterrorism, J-37 Joint Staff, from May 2018 to May 2019; and Commanding General, NATO Special Operations Component Command/Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan, Resolute Support Mission, from May 2019 to May 2020. In the latter role, he was deployed to Afghanistan again in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel.
82nd Airborne Division
Donahue was the Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division, from July 2020 to March 2022. Donahue was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan since 2002, and his 18th deployment overall, during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. He directed security at Hamid Karzai International Airport from 17 August 2021 while Rear Admiral Peter Vasely was in overall command of U.S. forces in the country. Troops of the 82nd Airborne held the airport for the final 48 hours of the war in Afghanistan. On 30 August 2021, Donahue became the Withdrawal of [United States troops from Afghanistan (2020–2021)|last foreign soldier to depart], boarding a C-17 Globemaster III|C-17] transport aircraft that was part of a group of the last five American planes that left the country. Donahue and Vasely had overseen the international evacuation from Kabul of over 122,000 people.XVIII Airborne Corps
In February 2022, he was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps, succeeding Michael Kurilla. In March 2022 Donahue led troops of the XVIII Airborne Corps in southeast Poland in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shortly after that, he met with senior Ukrainian military commanders to begin their partnership with the United States. 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 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. He initially worked with Ukrainian Ground Forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi before working with another Ukrainian general, Mykhailo Zabrodskyi. The partnership that developed between Donahue and Zabrodskyi became critical in the military support from the U.S. and other NATO countries to Ukraine. This took place at 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. Donahue and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Christopher G. Cavoli advised the Ukrainians during the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive and the 2022 Kherson counteroffensive.Towards the end of the year, Donahue and the XVIII Airborne Corps were replaced in this role by Antonio Aguto, who became the head of the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine. Donahue helped establish the group in late 2022, which was created for the purpose of continuing the mission that the Corps had done up until then for the long term. In 2023, while back in the United States, Donahue oversaw the renaming of Fort Bragg as Fort Liberty. He deployed the expeditionary headquarters of XVIII Airborne Corps to assist United States Africa Command with evacuating American and other foreign citizens from Sudan during the crisis in that country.
U.S. Army Europe and Africa
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 2024, the hold was lifted, and Donahue was promoted to four-star general. Donahue assumed command from Darryl A. Williams on 10 December 2024. In this position, he returned to the role of overseeing the U.S. assistance to Ukraine, and he visited the country with Cavoli in January 2025.At the LANDEURO Security Conference in July 2025, Donahue announced NATO's establishment of the "Eastern Flank Deterrence Line." He also asserted that the alliance is capable of neutralizing Russia's A2/AD in Kaliningrad Oblast. In November 2025 he was part of a delegation led by U.S. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll to Ukraine for peace negotiations in the Russo-Ukrainian war.