Let me say up front that I'm not acquainted with General Donahue or
his partisans on one side or the other of this issue. I'm merely
offering my observations not only as a former infantry officer but also
as a political observer. Having said all that, the discussion is missing
two critical points, in my opinion.
First and foremost,
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has the duty to shape the nation's corps
of General and Flag Officers. He does that with the consent of the
President, who
"has reposed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor,
fidelity, and abilities" of each officer. Promotion to GOFO rank is not
something that a neutral committee does. Yes, a promotion board selects a
slate of the best-qualified candidates. Then the service chief of staff
reviews the list and, if necessary, makes changes. The service
secretary weighs in. The Secretary of War gets involved. Then it goes to
the White House for final review, and ultimately, the Senate confirms
those nominated or not. Shenanigans are not unknown; see Four-Star General Suspended and Under IG Investigation for Tampering With Command Selection Board – RedState and Army Secretary Fires a Corrupt Four-Star but Leaves Corruption at the Top Untouched – RedState.
Hegseth
has embarked on an ambitious reform of the Pentagon and is proceeding
at breakneck speed. To make that work, he has to have senior commanders
and civilians who believe in his program. If there is any doubt of their
full-throated support, he must get rid of them. Generals and admirals
associated with the corrupt policies of the Lloyd Austin era have been
removed. A partial list is below.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Adm. Lisa Franchetti — Chief of Naval Operations.
Gen. James Slife — Air Force Vice Chief of Staff.
Gen. Timothy Haugh — Commander of U.S. Cyber Command and NSA Director.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse — Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Rear Adm. Milton Sands — Commander of Naval Special Warfare Command.
Gen. David Allvin — Air Force Chief of Staff.
Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore — Chief of Navy Reserve.
Lt. Gen Joseph B. Berger III — Judge Advocate General of the Army.
Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer — Judge Advocate General of the Air Force.
Lt Gen. Jennifer Short — Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.
Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield — United States Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee.
Gen. Randy George — Army Chief of Staff.
Gen. David Hodne — Commander of Army Transformation and Training Command.
Maj. Gen. William Green Jr. — Army Chief of Chaplains.
Holding a senior rank is not a sinecure. It isn't a personal bauble.
It is a trust, and part of that trust is loyalty to the President and
the Secretary of War, as well as fealty to the Constitution. You can't
be faithful to the Constitution while surreptitiously fighting the
policies of the commander-in-chief. As one of my old bosses once told
us: "Guys, I'll never ask you to like a single thing I tell you to do.
But I will demand that you do it to the best of your ability."
We are told that Donohue is "one of America's most-admired general officers."
BREAKING:
One of America's most-admired general officers, CD Donahue, is the
latest Army leader to be forced out at the Pentagon, @nancyayoussef and @missy_ryan report: https://t.co/v7co5kMo5n
That
may be true, but that appellation and $25 will get you a small cup of
very gay coffee at Starbucks. I have no idea what metric would allow you
to arrive at that conclusion.
What we do know about Donohue is less than admirable.
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.
When then-Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin blocked Donahue's
promotion to four-star rank in November 2024,
additional details
emerged about the Afghanistan fiasco. In addition to the "war trophy"
incident recounted above, Donahue blocked American passport holders from
entering the evacuation area. Working dogs were left behind rather than
evacuated. Donahue borrowed the equipment he used for the "last man in
Afghanistan" photo from a soldier. Allegedly, the "last man" image took
multiple takes to get right.
So
this was the guy who ran the disaster Kabul evacuation — but still had
the time to do a photo shoot of himself walking up the ramp — multiple
takes to get it right. Also the nards to dedicate space on a plane for a
truck that he sent to the Airborne Museum.
LTG
Donahue refused to open the gates at HKIA despite Marines reporting up
the chain of command that American passport holding citizens were trying
to get in to evacuate. In addition to the statements from Marines, we
had plenty of other evidence of Americans trying to get into… pic.twitter.com/MlKM3DZJdS
LTG
Donahue refused to open the gates at HKIA despite Marines reporting up
the chain of command that American passport holding citizens were trying
to get in to evacuate. In addition to the statements from Marines, we
had plenty of other evidence of Americans trying to get into HKIA to
evacuate.
Donahue was the ground commander who ultimately made
the decision to not get those Americans out. We can banter back and
forth about security and other critical elements of why he chose to do
what he did, but I can’t sidestep or forgive a commander not making
every attempt to get those Americans out who were standing at the gate,
talking directly to the Marines, and being refused entry.
The
other nonsense about the fake photo op of “last boots on ground” that
was proven false due to the Air Force load master being the last to get
on the airplane and an entire medical unit still being on ground
conducting operations well after the evacuation, plus borrowing the
equipment from the delta team that was with him to take a cool guy
photo, can be shrugged off.
Making an effort to use critical
space on the airplanes to take home a Toyota Land Cruiser with a mounted
anti-aircraft gun as a war trophy, instead of human beings, or at the
very least the dozens of working dogs that were left to die in kennels
at the hands of the Taliban, can also be shrugged off.
What I can’t shrug off is leaving American citizens behind in Afghanistan when they were standing at the gates with their passports out pleading with the Marine guards to let them in. He shouldn’t have been allowed to pin on a third star, let alone a fourth.
The report on the Afghan debacle is due out shortly. If these
vignettes are included, Hegseth would be roasted for promoting one of
the architects of our shameful withdrawal while also proclaiming that he
wanted accountability.
NEW:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stonewalled a behind-the-scenes effort
within the Army and on Capitol Hill to extend the career of Gen. Chris
Donahue people familiar with the matter said, leading to that officer
submitting retirement paperwork and preparing to step down.
Donahue has become a convenient club with which to belabor Hegseth, no matter the circumstances.
The
bottom line here is that there is nothing wrong with Pete Hegseth
forcing a general officer into retirement. Even if you don't like
Hegseth or like his reasoning, his right and duty to manage the corps of
generals and admirals is unassailable.
The second part of the
story is more conspiratorial. As I noted, current DHS Secretary
Markwayne Mullin put a hold on Donahue's promotion over Afghanistan. No
one said jack ****. There was no mention of his accomplishments. There
was no strictly heterosexual man-crush by leftist agitators.
Hegseth has fired a lot of Generals. The reaction to this one had been very different.
Donahue was deeply loved, trusted and respected.
It’s another time we badly need all former CJCSs, SecDefs and Flag Grades to speak out.
The
story about Donahue being forced out did not break in the traditional
media or in a defense- or military-related outlet. Nope. It first
surfaced in The Atlantic.
BREAKING:
One of America's most-admired general officers, CD Donahue, is the
latest Army leader to be forced out at the Pentagon, @nancyayoussef and @missy_ryan report: https://t.co/v7co5kMo5n
My
conversation with Rear Adm. (Ret.) James McPherson, Army under
secretary during Trump's first administration, about the impact of Gen.
CD Donahue's early retirement: "There's no more warrior than there was General Donahue. "I think this goes to two things. One is the morale…
There
was also a healthy dose of politically active retired generals and
admirals. You know, the ones who were completely apolitical until a
couple of nanoseconds after retirement.
Admiral
(ret.) William H. McRaven: "In recent months, President Trump, upon
advice from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has relieved or forced
the retirement of some of the finest officers that have ever served this
nation." Read the whole piece: https://t.co/m9og4RFfLI
The
continued unwillingness of Secretary Hegseth to explain why these
Officers are being removed “without cause” leads to speculation about
his motives and undermines trust among the Officer Corps and in the
Ranks. Is the Secretary of the Army ok with this? SASC? Retired 4 stars?
https://t.co/PyTQoC8e3T
— Admiral Mike Franken (@FrankenforIowa) June 25, 2026
There
are enough McRaven quotes to remove all doubt about who pushed the
story to The Atlantic and then energized the cabal of progressive
retired admirals and generals to complain. McRaven probably doesn't care
about Donahue one way or another. What he does care about is sidelining
Hegseth and protecting his fellow Bolsheviks.
For me, this is the bottom line.
President Trump gets to pick his team; Hegseth is the general manager.
The
ranks of GOFOs are so salted with the debris of the Obama and Biden
years that they need a culling on the order of the one General George C.
Marshall gave to the U.S. Army pre-World War II.
He who smelt it, dealt it. The source of this hit and who is pushing it tells you all you need to know about the motive.
The graveyard is full of indispensable men, and everyone moves up one place.
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