Before his current position, he served in several high level roles, including special assistant to Defense Secretary Ash Carter and undersecretary of the Air Force. But with Eric Fanning’s nomination, the Obama government has taken a positive turn.
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“Eric is taking over at a critical time for the Army”, Rudy deLeon, who was deputy secretary of Defense during Bill Clinton’s presidency, told the Post.
President Obama has named Eric Fanning the new secretary of the Army, which will make Fanning the first openly gay man to ever hold this position.
Fanning’s nomination comes during a critical transition period for the Army, which has not only seen key leadership changes at the top but also continues to struggle with increasingly tight budgets and growing demands for troops all around the world.
The Pentagon in recent years has loosened its stance on gays and transgenders serving openly in the military.
Fanning began his political career in the Bill Clinton White House in 1996 and served as a public relations associate and associate producer at CBS News.
Prior to joining the administration, Fanning was deputy director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Fanning must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can assume this new posting.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBT rights group, called Fanning “the ideal choice to lead the world’s best-trained, most dedicated and formidable army”. The report said that on Friday the Marine service announced that they would now open units to women.
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In June, the Pentagon gave gay and lesbian service members full protection from discrimination under an equal opportunity policy, meaning it will consider sexual orientation in the same way as it considers race, religion, color, sex, age and national origin when investigating complaints of discrimination.
