April 25, 2024
FORT BENNING, Ga. (AP) — The top commander at Fort Benning plans to retire later this year, and his replacement has already been named, Army officials said.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe plans to step down in July as commanding general at the base in Georgia, post officials told the Ledger-Enquirer on Friday. Maj. Gen. Curtiss Buzzard, currently the deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, is set to take his place.
A change-of-command ceremony is set for July 14 at Fort Benning.
Donahoe has served nearly 34 years in the Army and has been top commander at Fort Benning since July 2020. Before arriving in the Columbus area to take the commanding general job, he was a deputy commanding general for U.S. Army operations in Korea. He had previously served as chief of staff for the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning.
Donahoe's Army career also included posts around the U.S. and in Afghanistan. He commanded the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, as it deployed to Iraq for counterinsurgency operations, earing the valorous unit citation. From July 2013 to June 2014, he served in Afghanistan as senior adviser to the chief of the general staff of the Afghan National Army.
According to his Army biography, Buzzard has previously served as commandant of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
