Army veteran Vincent Viola, billionaire owner of the Florida Panthers, named Trump’s Army secretary

Washington Post ^ | 12/19/16 | Dan Lamothe

[DoodleDawg]

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated as his Army secretary Vincent Viola, an Army veteran who became a billionaire after founding an electronic trading firm and went on to buy the Florida Panthers hockey team.

Viola is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and funded the creation of its highly regarded Combating Terrorism Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A former infantry officer and Ranger School graduate, he has pressed for innovation in cyber warfare, saying at a conference five years ago that the Army of the future will be built on a “gestalt of geekdom.”

“We’ve got to find geeks who love their country,” Viola said, according to the military technology website Defense Systems. “At my company, I’ll gladly trade 10 pull-ups and five minutes on a run for 20 IQ points and heart.”

[HokieMom]

From Forbes 400:

#374 Vincent Viola
Real Time Net Worth As of 12/19/16
$1.78 Billion

"The son of a truck driver from Brooklyn, Vincent Viola started the electronic-trading firm Virtu Financial in 2008. He took the company public in April 2015, touting its can't-lose business model and the fact that it turned a profit on 1,484 of its first 1,485 days in operation. In Michael Lewis' book Flash Boys, the author pointed to Virtu's winning streak as evidence of the huge informational advantage that high-frequency traders have over other investors."

More at Forbes

[ConservativeDude]

Trump likes people who have been successful.

How awful of him.

[HokieMom]

JosephGazarik ‏@GazarikJoseph 2h2 hours ago
@realDonaldTrump announces #Vincent #Viola as
#Secretary of #Army.101st Airborne veteran;
strong in #securityintelligence,& #Catholic #Faith

[bicyclerepair]

Wow, as a Panthers fan, I can tell you this guy is SOLID. He even redesigned the jerseys to emulate military garb. i.e. State flag on each shoulder, bars for captain etc.

The team can’t win worth a $#1t, but he is a solid military guy. They always have inside shows about west point etc.

[HokieMom]

Winning is awesome, isn’t it?

[GOYAKLA]

WE love the smell of Success, in the morning!

[HokieMom]

Alcox ‏@AlcoxtheGreat 2h2 hours ago
Organization of the Office of the #Secretary of #Army and its relationship to the Army Staff (#TrumpTransition #VincentViola)

[Jumper]

Forgot to mention paratrooper, aka jumper;) Of course not all Rangers were required to be airborne in 1977 era but I am sure he went to Jump School during the Summer between classes.

[HokieMom]

[GOYAKLA]

Thanks! From a native Miamian, in C.Fla. Had to check it out.
Ooh-rah!
***
http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/15906397/nhl-uni-watch-breaks-new-uniform-logo-florida-panthers-sport-next-season

[redfreedom]

It sure is a shame Trump is steering away from diversity. But there’s still hope, maybe Viola is a homo. /s/

[Battle Axe]

I approve of all of his appoint selections.

Battle Axe

[To Hell With Poverty]

Sounds like a jock standing up for the geeks...love love love it! He’s going to have an army of centipedes at his beck and call, no doubt!

[mountn man]

Obama's current Secretary Of Army:

Mr. Fanning previously served as the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense. He helped manage Secretary of Defense Carter's transition, built his leadership team, and oversaw the day-to-day staff activities of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
From April, 2013 until February, 2015, he served as the 24th Under Secretary of the Air Force. As Under Secretary and Chief Management Officer of the Air Force, he oversaw an 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 led the Air Force Space Board, the Air Force Energy Council, the Force Management and Development Council, and numerous other Air Force decision-making bodies.

From June, 2013 through December, 2013 Mr. Fanning served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force.

From 2009 to 2013, 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.

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, DC- 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.

https://www.army.mil/leaders/sa/bio/

Obama's previous Secretary Of Army, John McHugh:

McHugh was born in Watertown, New York. He graduated from Watertown High School in 1966 and attended Syracuse University; in 1970 he graduated from Utica College with a B.A. in political science. He later went on to receive a Master of Public Administration degree from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Graduate School of Public Affairs at the State University of New York at Albany in 1977.[1]

Though he was of draft age during the Vietnam War,[2] McHugh did not serve in the military;[3] he was an assistant to the Watertown city manager from 1971 to 1977. He served as an aide to State Senator H. Douglas Barclay from 1977 to 1984, when he was elected as Barclay's successor. McHugh was a member of the New York State Senate from 1985 to 1992, sitting in the 186th, 187th, 188th and 189th New York State Legislatures.[1]

...McHugh never served in the military, but in nominating him, President Obama indicated his view that McHugh's extensive experience on the House Armed Services Committee had prepared him to serve as the Army's top civilian.

Per wikipedia

[jimfree]

Yep, let’s not forget jumper.

[GOPJ]

Another WINNER!!!! One more high IQ Alpha...

[1Old Pro]

Yep, he has a cabinet of people who get things done.

[minnesota_bound]

Gee it looks like Trump is actually looking for competent people and not SJW. Liberals hating this.