WASHINGTON
The U.S. Army plans to phase out its Unmanned Assault Battalion, a specialized drone unit established last year to study and adopt tactics from modern conflicts including the Russia-Ukraine war. The decision by Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the Army, reverses a key initiative championed by his predecessors and reflects simmering personal tensions at the highest ranks of the service.
Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and former commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa Gen. Christopher Donahue were the primary advocates for the battalion. Both were forced out of their positions—George was fired and Donahue was compelled into early retirement—clearing the path for LaNeve's ascent to acting Army chief of staff.
LaNeve and Donahue had clashed years earlier. When LaNeve's command of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division concluded ahead of schedule, he was "soft relieved" from the position and quickly moved out of his Fort Bragg, North Carolina residence to make way for the new commander. Current and former U.S. officials told CBS News that this episode contributed to ill will between the two generals and factored into the decision to scrap the drone unit.
The battalion is currently participating in an exercise scheduled to run through September, during which its members will share knowledge and tactics acquired over the past year. Following the exercise, the unit will revert to its original designation as an airborne infantry battalion within the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Soldiers will be retrained for parachute drops and aircraft-based deployments rather than drone operations.
The battalion's elimination marks a reversal of the "Army Transformation Initiative" launched last year by then-Chief of Staff George and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, which explicitly emphasized unmanned systems as central to future warfare. Driscoll said at the time, "I don't think I've talked to a single person who has said we shouldn't be learning from what's occurring in Ukraine."
A spokesperson for Army Secretary Driscoll declined to comment on the drone unit's phase-out. LaNeve's office directed inquiries to the Army, which offered no further explanation beyond confirming the plans to shut down the unit.
