Department of Defense recommends new commander for the 18th Airborne Corps
FORT LIBERTY — The Department of Defense announced its recommendation for the new senior commander of Fort Liberty and the 18th Airborne Corps on Thursday.
President Joe Biden nominated Maj. Gen. Gregory K. Anderson for promotion to lieutenant general and as the replacement for current 18th Airborne Corps commander Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue.
Congress received Anderson's nomination for the spot Thursday.
Donahue’s next assignment has not been announced.
Anderson is currently commander of the 10th Mountain Division, a subordinate unit of the 18th Airborne Corps, based at Fort Drum, New York.
He previously served as director of J-3 Operations and Cyber for U.S. Africa Command; deputy director for J-5 Strategy, Plans and Policy for the U.S. Central Command; deputy commander of the 10th Mountain Division; and commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy.
Role of 18th Airborne Corps
As commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, Donahue has led more than 90,000 troops in four divisions and numerous brigades.
According to its website, the corps is the Army’s strategic response force that “rapidly deploys ready Army forces anywhere in the world by air, land or sea, entering forcibly if necessary, to shape, deter, fight and win.”
Its headquarters provides mission command as an Army joint or combined task force headquarters.
Munition-dropping drones, mold sensors and barracks: What's happening at Fort Liberty?
Current command
Donahue took command of the 18th Airborne Corps in March 2022, a month into the Corps’ nearly eight-month-long deployment to Germany to bolster NATOS’s eastern flank and support NATO in deterring Russian aggression after Ukraine was invaded.
He previously led the 82nd Airborne Division, also a subordinate unit of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, from July 2020 to March 2022.
During Donahue’s time as commander, the Corps’\ headquarters deployed last year in support of missions in Sudan, and Fort Bragg was renamed Fort Liberty.
Donahue has also been part of leadership discussions about renovating and demolishing Fort Liberty's Smoke Bomb Hill barracks after leaders deemed the housing for soldiers substandard last year and oversaw moving more than 1,000 soldiers.
Most recently, Donahue has been part of discussions with Cumberland County Schools about whether E.E. Smith High School will relocate to Stryker Golf Course just outside of Fort Liberty’s gates.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Who will lead the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty?
