A few short years after “don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed by President Obama our fearless leader is taking no time to fly in the face of tradition in the realm of our military.
He is electing to nominate Eric Fanning, an openly gay man, to the position of Secretary of the Army. He would be the first openly gay civilian secretary over a branch of the military. Approval is still in the hands of the Senate.
Fanning has performed the duties of acting Air Force Secretary and has been holding the office of acting Army Secretary since June of this year. His credentials include being a specialist for the last 25 years in national security issues and defense at both the Pentagon and Capitol Hill. Though he has a distinguished civilian resume, he does not have any personal military experience. He has worked his way up the food chain in the world civilian bureaucracy and has moved from one committee to another with respect to our armed forces. He has worked on the House Armed Services Committee, the office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of Political Affairs at The White House, two positions at the Department of the Navy, and Deputy Director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. As well he has served as acting Secretary for the Air Force and his current duties as acting Secretary of the Army.
He is the highest ranking gay official in the Department of Defense.
His military counterpart, Mark Milley, took over as top general for the Army just last August. Together the men would shoulder responsibility for the most worrisome branch of service.
The ravages of a 14 year long war against insurgency, terrorism, and political unrest in multiple countries have left our Army troops in a troublesome state.
Suicides are on the rise with 22 soldiers on average per day ending their lives; offices of veterans affairs are backlogged with cases of vets needing services; the Army has the lowest deployment-readiness rates it has had in decades; equipment has not been updated since the Reagan administration–things are not going well.
Fanning’s experience has mostly been over massive ship and aircraft programs.
Are we really going to trust a man who has never actually served in the military? He has the credentials of a politician. How is it possible for him to really grasp the state of a post-war army if he has never been to war? Or even boot camp?
Need we even mention that he supports openly transgender people serving in the military at this delicate time?
You have to wonder if Eric Fanning is the best man for the job. Is this a power play by an outgoing president to push for a “gay friendly” federal government? Haven’t our service men and women suffered enough?
