US Army Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue was in charge of security at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport during the withdrawal.
REDSTATE | Published November 23, 2024
Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin has blocked the promotion of the “last US soldier out of Afghanistan” to get his fourth star and become commander of US Army Europe. Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue is currently the commanding general of the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps and once and future Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Tellingly, his was the only one of nearly 1,000 military promotions not approved as the Senate recessed for Thanksgiving. Someone familiar with the affair confirmed Mullin’s removing Donahue from the promotion list was directly related to Donahue’s role in Afghanistan.
Donahue acquired a degree of fame by hotdogging his role as the “last man out of Afghanistan.”
The little-known part of the story is that Donahue had Afghan evacuees bumped off the plane and left to the tender mercies of the Taliban so he could bring home war trophies. Our own Jennifer van Laar broke this in an exclusive story headlined: EXCLUSIVE: Maj Gen Ordered 50+ Evacuees off One of Last Flights out of Kabul to Make Room for Taliban Souvenir.
In a number of articles penned in the following days, Donahue is characterized as “uniquely qualified” for that moment in time and generally depicted as a humble, understated leader of his division.
Unfortunately, everything isn’t quite as it may seem. During the last hours of the evacuation, according to troops under his command and as documented by photographs and witness statements, Donahue ordered all of the passengers aboard a C-17 transport plane to disembark so he could have a souvenir loaded onto the plane. That souvenir, or “war trophy,” was an inoperable Taliban-owned Toyota Hilux with a fully operational Russian ZU-23 anti-aircraft autocannon mounted in the bed. Once the Hilux was loaded passengers were allowed back on the plane, but, of course, there wasn’t room for all of them. According to troops on the scene, at least 50 people and perhaps as many as 100 people were left at Kabul to make room for the Hilux.
In fact, he wasn’t even the last man out.
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SOURCE: www.redstate.com
RELATED: Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who commanded 82nd Airborne in Kabul, caught by Senate hold for fourth star
Army Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue’s was nominated by the President to command U.S. Army Europe-Africa. His name was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee but withheld from a final vote on the Senate floor which confirmed more than 900 other nominations. Spc. PS Bailey Whilden
TASK AND PURPOSE | Published November 23, 2024
The last soldier to board the final U.S. military plane out of Afghanistan was on track to be named a four-star general and command U.S. Army Europe-Africa, but his name has now been held back from a promotion.
Army Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue’s promotion appeared on a list of generals released by the Pentagon last week who had been nominated by the President to lead key military commands. The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced a list of more than 900 officer promotions, including Donahue on Tuesday. However, his name was withheld Thursday from a final vote on the Senate floor which confirmed the rest of those nominations.
Army officials at the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.
Donahue’s nomination to command soldiers in Europe may have been put on hold by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Senate aide familiar with the situation told Task & Purpose on condition of anonymity.
Task & Purpose reached out to Mullin’s office but officials declined to provide a statement for this story.
Then-Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue boards the final C-17 cargo plane to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 31, 2021. Army photo by Master Sgt. Alex Burnett.
The Senate aide said the hold could be related to Donahue’s role during the Afghanistan withdrawal – which is reportedly a topic of concern in Washington D.C. after NBC news reported that Trump’s team is forming a list of senior U.S. military officers directly involved in the withdrawal and considering potentially court-martialing them for their role.
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