Charles Costanza
Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza presents a soldier in V Corps with a coin during the corps’ Best Squad Competition in June 2026. Army Photo by Cpl. Grant Hockley.
Introduction
Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza is a senior U.S. Army general who commanded V Corps — the Army’s forward-deployed headquarters in Poland, responsible for operations along NATO’s eastern flank — from April 2024 until his abrupt removal from command in August 2026. Costanza was relieved with about two months remaining in his planned tenure, in an announcement first reported by ABC News late on a Friday and confirmed by an Army spokesperson to both Stars and Stripes and Task & Purpose. The reason for his relief has not been disclosed by Army officials, who issued only a brief statement saying the matter had been referred to the appropriate authority in accordance with Army regulations.
Background Information
Costanza commissioned into the U.S. Army in the armor branch and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve over the course of his career. He led the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division from 2021 to 2023 at Fort Stewart in Georgia, then took command of V Corps in April 2024.
V Corps is one of the Army’s main units in Europe, working closely with NATO allies and coordinating with U.S. forces rotated to the continent as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. The corps was a mainstay in Europe throughout the Cold War, disbanded in 2013 amid the post-Cold War drawdown of U.S. forces on the continent, and was reactivated in Poland in 2020 — later becoming the Army’s first permanent garrison in the country. It is headquartered at Fort Knox in Kentucky, with its forward headquarters in Poznan, Poland, at Camp Kościuszko, and it oversees major Army formations in Europe including the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the 41st Field Artillery Brigade, and the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. The corps has played a central role in NATO’s eastern Europe operations, including Operation Atlantic Resolve and the Army’s Project Flytrap and Transforming in Contact initiatives.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
In early August 2026, with less than two months left in his planned tenure, Costanza was removed from command of V Corps. ABC News first reported the removal late on a Friday, and the Army confirmed it to news outlets in a short statement: “Lt. Gen Charles D. Costanza, commanding general, V Corps, was removed from command. The matter has been referred to the appropriate authority in accordance with Army regulations.” The statement did not elaborate on why Costanza was removed after holding the post for more than two years, and Army officials have not disclosed a reason. The reference of the matter to an appropriate authority is standard Army process language and does not itself indicate the nature of the matter or any finding of wrongdoing.
Public Reaction and Consequences
V Corps officials did not immediately respond to Stars and Stripes’ requests for comment. Costanza is one of several high-ranking officers removed from their posts in recent months: the removal came as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has overseen the removal of several senior military leaders while pushing to reduce the number of general and flag officers across the armed forces, though Army officials have not said whether Costanza’s removal is related to those broader changes. In June 2026, Gen. Christopher Donahue relinquished command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa roughly halfway through his tenure, and the Pentagon subsequently nominated Lt. Gen. Kevin Admiral to replace him. The shakeups coincide with a broader drawdown discussion in Europe — the Pentagon canceled two major troop deployments to the continent in May 2026, including a planned rotation of 4,000 soldiers to Poland, before President Donald Trump said 5,000 troops would go to Poland — and a Pentagon review of the U.S. military mission and force posture in Europe launched in July 2026, the month before Costanza’s relief.
Current Status
Brig. Gen. John Mountford, V Corps’ deputy commander — serving as deputy commanding general of readiness for the corps — took over as acting and interim commanding general following Costanza’s relief, per an Army spokesperson. Costanza’s planned change of command with Maj. Gen. Thomas Feltey had originally been scheduled for October 2026; Feltey, named as the nominee to lead V Corps in July, relinquished command of the 1st Cavalry Division on August 4, 2026, and remains set to replace Costanza in October. The referral of the matter to the appropriate authority under Army regulations remains the only process publicly acknowledged, and no findings have been announced.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The relief ended Costanza’s command of V Corps a little more than two years after he took it — cutting his tenure short with less than two months remaining before a planned, orderly handover to a named successor. Beyond the Army’s two-sentence confirmation and the pending referral, no explanation for his removal has been made public, leaving the circumstances of the firing of one of the Army’s top generals in Europe unexplained.