LID Breakfast - Featuring Mr. Eric Fanning, Undersecretary of the Air Force

Mr. Eric Fanning is the Under Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He is responsible for all Air Force affairs on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force, including organizing, training and equipping the force. He serves as acting Secretary of the Air Force in the Secretary's absence.

By law, Mr. Fanning serves as the Chief Management Officer of the Air Force, responsible for the efficient and effective management of Air Force resources and providing for the welfare of its more than 690,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen and their families. As Under Secretary of the Air Force, he is the senior Air Force energy official and the focal point for space operations, policy and acquisition issues on the Air Force staff. He oversees the Air Force's annual budget of more than $110 billion by serving as Co-Chair of the top Air Force corporate decision making body, the Air Force Council, and also leads the Air Force Space Board, the Air Force Energy Council, the Force Management and Development Council, and numerous other Air Force decision making bodies.

Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy / Deputy Chief Management Officer. In this role, he led the department's business transformation and governance processes and coordinated several efforts to identify enterprise wide efficiencies. He also orchestrated the annual process to codify the Department of the Navy's Objectives.

From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Fanning was Deputy Director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, which issued its report in December of 2008. He joined the commission staff from CMG, a strategic communications firm, where he was Managing Director. From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Fanning was Senior Vice President for Strategic Development at Business Executives for National Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, where he was in charge of international programs and all regional office operations in six cities across the country. He traveled to more than 30 countries, mostly in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, including multiple trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prior to joining BENS, Mr. Fanning was at Robinson, Lerer & Montgomery, another strategic communications firm. From 1997 to 1998, he worked on the national and foreign assignment desks at CBS National News in New York. From 1991 to 1996, he worked in various political positions in Washington, D.C.: he was a Research Assistant with the House Armed Services Committee, a Special Assistant in the Immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Associate Director of Political Affairs at the White House.

Mr. Fanning is a graduate of Dartmouth College. He was confirmed as the 24th Under Secretary of the Air Force on April 29, 2013.