Author Topic: Eric Fanning Nomination: Gay Civilian Nominated To Be Secretary Of Army (Read 1299 times)

RandallS · « **on:** September 18, 2015, 06:39:14 pm »

"President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Eric Fanning to be Secretary of the Army, a move that would make Fanning, if confirmed, the first openly gay civilian to lead a branch of the U.S. military"

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sailor · « **Reply #1 on:** September 19, 2015, 06:05:53 pm »

Quote from: RandallS;180137

"President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Eric Fanning to be Secretary of the Army, a move that would make Fanning, if confirmed, the first openly gay civilian to lead a branch of the U.S. military"

Read the Article

Not a lot of info, but seems he has appropriate experience.

quote:
Fanning, who has been a defense and national security specialist for more than 25 years in Congress and at the Pentagon, would have influence over the generals the Army chooses to rebuild the service as the deployment of service mebers in Iraq and Afghanistan continues to wind down.

RandallS · « **Reply #2 on:** September 19, 2015, 07:07:44 pm »

Quote from: sailor;180156

Not a lot of info, but seems he has appropriate experience.

Everyone in the media seems so focused on the fact he is gay that they aren't yet saying much about his qualifications for the job. From what little info I've found, he does not sound unqualified and may actually be very qualified. I know military people like to see retired military in such positions, but I'm a big fan of having the civilian side of be actual civilians.

sailor · « **Reply #3 on:** September 19, 2015, 09:03:30 pm »

Quote from: RandallS;180161

Everyone in the media seems so focused on the fact he is gay that they aren't yet saying much about his qualifications for the job. From what little info I've found, he does not sound unqualified and may actually be very qualified. I know military people like to see retired military in such positions, but I'm a big fan of having the civilian side of be actual civilians.

A brief look at Wikipedia seems to indicate most had military experience, but they weren't career military. Fanning apparently has been working military stuff as a civilian so he looks to have more experience with the military than most.