At a ceremony honoring Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning, Defense Secretary Ash Carter praised Army leaders for moving ahead on key initiatives.

“Since we have a pretty good record of never successfully predicting the strategic future, we must also be flexible and agile in preparing for it, for unknowns that we can’t anticipate today,” Carter said at the June 20 welcoming ceremony held at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va. Fanning and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley “understand what must be done to ensure the readiness and strength of the Army to confront the challenges of today’s security environment,” Carter said.

Fanning and Milley are “working together to strengthen the Army’s unparalleled ability, forged over the last 15 years, and much longer, to carry out its core mission, which is to seize, hold, and dominate physical and human terrain,” Carter said. “They aren’t resting on the current excellence of our Army; they’re doubling down on it, ensuring that our ground forces are agile, unrivaled in posture, ready for full spectrum operations, and always prepared to defend America’s interests and values.”

Fanning became the 22nd Army secretary on May 18. Fanning described being Army secretary as the “best job in the world.”

Fanning once served as Carter’s chief of staff. “I looked to him to help me recruit and attract a talented and innovative team of civilian and military leaders, many of whom are with us today,” Carter said. “And he has served in senior leadership roles in each of our military departments, including time as Undersecretary of the Air Force, and Acting Secretary of the Air Force, as well as Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy. That gives him a unique perspective on the pivotal connections that bind our joint force.”

“At the Department of Defense, we are constantly looking for ways to innovate and think outside of our five-sided box––innovating not only in our technology, but also in our operations, in our strategies, in how we manage our people,” Carter said. “Secretary Fanning and General Milley embody that spirit of innovation, and the kind of strong and steady leadership that will ensure our successors and our successor’s successors continue to inherit the finest fighting force the world has ever known.”