President Barack Obama has nominated Eric Fanning to be Secretary of the Army, the first openly gay director of a branch of the U.S. military.

Fanning, who has served as Undersecretary of the Army since June, must first be confirmed by the Senate. The 47-year-old Dartmouth graduate is one of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's closest advisers.

"Eric brings many years of proven experience and exceptional leadership to this new role," Obama said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Eric to keep our Army the very best in the world."

During his second term, President Obama has made a point to support the LGBT community with a number of decisions, from issuing an executive order protecting LGBT employees of the federal government to appointing the first openly transgender White House staff member, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan.

“[Fanning] understands how the Pentagon works and how to get things done in the Pentagon. He knows what works and what doesn’t work,” said Rudy de Leon, who was deputy defense secretary in the Clinton administration. "Eric is taking over at a critical time for the Army—[They're] still living off equipment from the Reagan years."

John McHugh, the current secretary of the Army, plans to step down by November 1.