Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza has been removed from command of V Corps, the U.S. Army's forward-deployed headquarters overseeing ground forces along NATO's eastern flank, the Army confirmed this week. The abrupt move came roughly two months before Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza's planned change of command, according to Stars and Stripes.
The Army has not disclosed a reason for Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza's removal or specified the exact date it occurred. In a statement confirming the action, an Army spokesperson said only that "the matter has been referred to the appropriate authority in accordance with Army regulations," language reported by both Military Times and Stars and Stripes. ABC News first reported the removal late Friday, according to Stars and Stripes.
Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza had led V Corps since April 2024. He was the corps' second commanding general since its reactivation in October 2020, according to Military Times. His change of command with Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Feltey, who had already been selected for promotion to lieutenant general, was originally scheduled for October. Feltey is now set to assume command of V Corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the Army said last week, per Military Times.
In the interim, Brig. Gen. John B. Mountford, the deputy commanding general for readiness at V Corps, is serving as acting commanding general, an Army spokesperson told both outlets. That means the headquarters responsible for coordinating allied defense along NATO's eastern flank is, for now, being led by an officer never intended to hold the post long term, a gap that underscores how sudden the personnel action was.
An Army official told Military Times that the removal was not political and had nothing to do with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Still, the departure lands amid a broader wave of leadership turnover at the Pentagon. Since taking office, Hegseth has removed or replaced at least a dozen senior military leaders, according to Military Times. Army officials have not said whether Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza's case is connected to that pattern, and Stars and Stripes noted the service has not clarified whether his removal ties into Hegseth's separate push to shrink the overall number of general and flag officers across the armed forces.
Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza's exit also follows the departure of another senior Army leader in Europe. In early July, Gen. Christopher Donahue, who previously commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division, unexpectedly relinquished command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. As with Costanza, the Army did not explain why Donahue left that post, Military Times reported. Taken together, the two departures have raised questions among observers about whether a pattern of unexplained command changes is emerging within the Army's European leadership structure, though officials have offered no confirmation either way.
A Career Built From West Point To Fort Stewart
Costanza commissioned as an armor officer from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1991. Before taking the helm of V Corps, he served as Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe-Africa and commanded the 3rd Infantry Division, which is based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, according to both Military Times and Stars and Stripes. That trajectory placed him among the Army's more experienced European hands well before he assumed leadership of V Corps in 2024.
V Corps itself carries a long history tied to U.S. defense posture in Europe. A mainstay presence during the Cold War, the corps was disbanded in 2013 as part of a broader post-Cold War drawdown of American forces on the continent. It was reactivated in Poland in 2020 and later became the Army's first permanent garrison in the country, according to Stars and Stripes. The unit is headquartered in Poznan, Poland, with a stateside command post at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Under Costanza, V Corps worked with allied militaries to integrate defense systems, counter-drone technology and long-range fires across NATO's eastern flank, Military Times reported. The corps has played a central role in Operation Atlantic Resolve as well as the Army's Project Flytrap and Transforming in Contact initiatives, according to Stars and Stripes. It also oversees several major Army formations in Europe, including the Vilseck-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the Grafenwoehr-based 41st Field Artillery Brigade and the Ansbach-based 12th Combat Aviation Brigade.
A Shrinking U.S. Footprint In Europe
Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza's removal comes as the Pentagon reassesses its military presence on the continent. Stars and Stripes reported that the Defense Department launched a review last month of the U.S. military mission in Europe, a step that could lead to a major overhaul as Washington pushes NATO allies to shoulder more of their own defense burden.
That shift has already produced visible cuts. In October, the Army discontinued a rotational brigade mission in Romania. In May, the deployment of an armored brigade to Poland was canceled. The Pentagon has also said it will pull 5,000 troops from Germany, a decision that affected a long-range fires team originally expected to deploy there in 2026, according to Stars and Stripes.
At the same time, President Trump has directed the Pentagon to send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, though Stars and Stripes reported that move has not yet been carried out. The contrast underscores the uncertainty currently surrounding U.S. force posture in the region, even as V Corps, the very headquarters responsible for coordinating that posture along NATO's eastern flank, is now operating under an acting commander rather than the general originally scheduled to hand off the role.
Neither the Army nor V Corps has offered further detail on what triggered the removal of Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza. V Corps officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Stars and Stripes. For now, the service's public position remains limited to confirming the personnel action and noting that it has been referred through proper regulatory channels, leaving the underlying reason for Costanza's departure unexplained as Feltey prepares to take formal command. With the review of the U.S. military mission in Europe still underway, and troop movements in Germany and Poland unresolved, the leadership change at V Corps adds another layer of uncertainty to an already shifting American posture on NATO's eastern flank.
