In an historic first, President Obama has nominated an openly gay service secretary to lead the US Army.

On Saturday, September 19, Obama nominated national security specialist Eric Fanning to lead the Army in a move that would see him become the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services, reports Washington Post.

“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.”

Fanning has served as acting under secretary of the Army since June, and before that, as chief of staff to Secretary of Defence Ash Carter. Fanning also served as undersecretary of the Air Force and deputy undersecretary of the Navy, reports CNN.

Despite Obama’s endorsement, Fanning’s position still awaits confirmation by the Senate.

Although the news was a non-issue for most members of Congress, Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee seized the opportunity to accuse Obama of being “more interested in appeasing America’s homosexuals than honouring America’s heroes,” reports The Advocate.

“Veterans suicide is out-of-control and military readiness is dangerously low, yet Obama is so obsessed with pandering to liberal interest groups he’s nominated an openly gay civilian to run the Army,” said Huckabee in a statement released Saturday by his campaign.

“Homosexuality is not a job qualification. The U.S. military is designed to keep Americans safe and complete combat missions, not conduct social experiments.”