Hegseth forced out Gen. Donahue, last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan, amid Pentagon leadership purge
On June 24, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and the last U.S. service member to board the final flight out of Afghanistan in 2021. The Pentagon announced Donahue would relinquish command on July 2, 2026, after just 18 months of a typical three-year tour, without providing a reason for the abrupt change. Donahue's removal is the latest in a series of senior military leadership purges under Hegseth, who has removed more than a dozen top generals and admirals since taking office.
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Donahue's removal is the latest in a series of senior military leadership purges Hegseth has conducted since taking office. He previously removed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George — the last of whom Hegseth asked to retire ahead of schedule in April 2026. In total, Hegseth has removed more than a dozen senior military officers, and the USAREUR-AF command Donahue led is simultaneously being downgraded from a four-star to a three-star post as part of Hegseth's broader restructuring of Pentagon leadership.
Multiple outlets reported the pattern of departures as politically motivated, with officers whose careers connected them to prior administrations or unpopular decisions facing heightened pressure. Donahue's prominent role in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal made him politically conspicuous in ways consistent with other officers Hegseth targeted. Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie will perform the duties of commanding general pending a permanent appointment.
Why we recorded this
The Constitution vests command of the armed forces in the President, but the professional military's apolitical character — officers who serve administrations regardless of party — is a cornerstone of democratic governance. Hegseth's systematic removal of senior officers on politically inconvenient grounds dismantles the professional leadership that allows civilian control to function without political capture of the force. Donahue's forced departure mid-assignment follows the removal of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Army Chief of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, and more than a dozen others — a rate and pattern signaling that ideological alignment is now a condition of command. Purging expertise in favor of political conformity strips the armed forces of the institutional capacity to provide independent military advice that democratic governance requires.
Sources
- https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/06/24/gen-christopher-donahue-to-unexpectedly-relinquish-command-of-army-europe-and-africa/ — Military Times primary accessed June 26, 2026
- Key Army general relinquishing command — ABC News secondary accessed June 26, 2026
- Army general Christopher Donahue is unexpectedly leaving his post — NBC News secondary accessed June 26, 2026
See also
- Acting DNI Pulte ordered ODNI offices to rank personnel for mass firings, targeting career intelligence professionals
- Hegseth replaces Congressionally-mandated Military Justice Review Panel with open-ended Pentagon legal-system review under his own general counsel
- Hegseth calls for second Pentagon investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly over weapons-stockpile remarks
- Pentagon cuts ties with Harvard, ending military training and fellowships
- Pentagon brands Anthropic a 'supply chain risk' in retaliation for refusing unrestricted military use of its AI models