Eric Kenneth Fanning (born July 2, 1968) is the United States Secretary of the Army, appointed by President Barack Obama on November 3, 2015, and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on May 17, 2016. Fanning is the 22nd Secretary of the Army, the largest service branch of the U.S. military, and the first openly gay head of any service in the U.S. military.

It is worth noting that some of the same Senators who voted against allowing gay people to serve openly in the military now have no problem appointing a gay man as head of a mostly heterosexual army. Apparently, gay people have won their battle against the homophobic congressional leaders of the largest military army in history.