{"id":43080,"date":"2017-09-18T19:01:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T19:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/18\/former-secarmy-fanning-to-replace-melcher-as-aia-ceo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:23:28","slug":"former-secarmy-fanning-to-replace-melcher-as-aia-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2017\/09\/18\/former-secarmy-fanning-to-replace-melcher-as-aia-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Former US Army Secretary Fanning to replace Melcher as AIA boss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Aerospace Industries Association announced Monday that former U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning will become its president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fanning, 49, was the first openly gay man to hold an armed service\u2019s top civilian position and the only person to have held senior appointments in all three military departments and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fanning will lead the trade association for more than 300 manufacturers of civil and military hardware as it nears its hundredth year, in 2020. Defense and aerospace companies rank as the nation\u2019s second-largest net exporter and one of the biggest contributors to the United States\u2019 annual gross domestic product, with $872 billion in sales in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2017\/07\/13\/aia-s-melcher-resigns-search-begins-for-ceo-replacement\/\">AIA&#8217;s Melcher resigns, search begins for CEO replacement<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fanning replaces former Excelis CEO David Melcher, who has served as AIA\u2019s president and CEO since June 2015. AIA announced in July that Melcher would aid the recruitment effort before his retirement at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><font>\u201cEric is an accomplished, respected leader whose broad government and national security experience will serve AIA and its member companies well,\u201d AIA Chairman Dennis Muilenburg, who is also Boeing\u2018s chairman, president and CEO, said in AIA\u2019s announcement.<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBuilding on the significant progress made under Dave Melcher\u2019s leadership, Eric will strengthen AIA\u2019s position as the voice of the aerospace and defense industry, bringing continued attention and advocacy to key issues affecting civil aviation, space and defense. We owe Dave our enduring gratitude for his tireless advocacy and many contributions to our industry,\u201d Muilenburg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2016\/11\/17\/army-secretary-sees-more-work-ahead-in-tapping-commercial-vendors\/\">Army Secretary Sees &#8216;More Work&#8217; Ahead in Tapping Commercial Vendors<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><font>Fanning said the defense industry faces a \u201cdynamic environment,\u201d adding that he was proud to lead AIA at \u201can exciting time.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe aerospace and defense industry is at the forefront of some of America\u2019s greatest challenges and opportunities. For us to continue leading the world demands strong leadership in foreign policy and national security, stable budgets, a vibrant economy where everyone has the opportunity to live the American dream, and the prosperity to create a skilled workforce capable of taking advantage of good-paying jobs that support families and communities,\u201d Fanning said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs we navigate this dynamic environment, our nation expects that we will properly equip our forces and allies, ensure safety in commercial aviation, and build an environment that inspires space travel and the minds that create it,\u201d Fanning said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe aerospace and defense industry represents more than 2.4 million proud workers, representing over 13 percent of the nation\u2019s manufacturing force from all 50 states, who passionately understand the gravity of their contribution to our economy and national security,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/interviews\/2016\/05\/17\/senate-confirms-eric-fanning-first-openly-gay-service-secretary\/\">Senate Confirms Eric Fanning, First Openly Gay Service Secretary<\/a>]<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><font>Fanning served as chief of staff of the secretary of defense, acting secretary of the Air Force, undersecretary of the Air Force, and deputy undersecretary and deputy chief management officer of the Navy. He also served on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee.<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was an eight-month holdup after President Barack Obama nominated Fanning to the top civilian job in the Army, as Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., sought assurances from the Obama administration that detainees at the military\u2019s Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison would not be relocated to his home state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Aerospace Industries Association announced Monday that former U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning will become its president and CEO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":60567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["news"],"primary_category":"news"},"5":{"categories":["news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"news"}}},"categories":[8,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-43080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ACLLUEXQYFGGTO4N2SQQO44RZE","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2017\/09\/18\/former-secarmy-fanning-to-replace-melcher-as-aia-ceo\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former US Army Secretary Fanning to replace Melcher as AIA boss - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Aerospace Industries Association announced Monday that former U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning will become its president and CEO.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former US Army Secretary Fanning to replace Melcher as AIA boss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Aerospace Industries Association announced Monday that former U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning will become its president and CEO.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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