U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning has discussed his priorities for the service branch with soldiers, staff members and civilian employees at his inaugural town hall meeting, the Army reported Thursday.
Fanning told event attendees on Tuesday at the Pentagon that he expects the newly established ârapid capability officeâ to help advance Army readiness in the areas of electronic and cyber warfare, survivability and position navigation timing as well as give the service branch a technological edge over potential adversaries.
“We’re not going to use this office to build a new helicopter,” Fanning said.
“We’re going to use this office because some technology on the helicopter isn’t giving us the edge over the adversary we thought it was going to be.â
He said he also aims for the military branch to address behavioral health and sexual assault issues among uniformed personnel.
Fanning also mentioned the Keris Strike joint exercise in Malaysia and his plans to work with Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Mark Milley to streamline communications in order to facilitate the decision-making process within the Army headquarters.
Fanning was inducted into office in May six months after he was nominated by President Barack Obama for the post.