The US Army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa – who was famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 – is unexpectedly stepping down from his post after just 18 months in the job, the Army confirmed late on Tuesday.General Christopher Donahue, commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa and commander of Nato’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement.He is the latest in a line of nearly two dozen top military leaders to either retire or depart their jobs early under the leadership of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has undertaken an effort to thin the ranks of the military’s top brass with the mantra “less generals, more GIs”.Donahue’s deputy, Major General Christopher Norrie, will perform his duties in the meantime, the statement added.A West Point graduate and a career special operations commander, Donahue commanded Delta Force units in Iraq and Afghanistan before leading the 82nd Airborne Division from July 2020 to March 2022.Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, steps on board a C-17 transport plane as the last US service member to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021. Photo: XVIII Airborne Corps via ReutersIt was during that period that he was brought in to restore security at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic US withdrawal from the country in 2021.