President Barack Obama will make his first presidential visit to Alaska, Nov, 12th. The president will speak to service men and women at Elmendorf Air Force Base as part of a refueling stop on his way to Asia.

President Barack Obama is expected to land at Elmendorf Air Base just before 1pm and then give a private speech to the military. However, before his speech, the president will meet a few of our very own service men and women.

"I never thought that I was going to meet the president," said U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant Maikol Perez. The same went for three other service men and women in the U.S. Army and Air Force who were hand picked to meet with President Obama on his Alaska visit.

"It's his first visit here so to be selected is an honor and a privilege and I am pretty excited," said U.S. Air Force, Tech Sergeant Elaine Gooch.

President Barack Obama will arrive in Alaska a day after he attended the wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in observance of Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. "Our service men and women have been doing right by America for generations, and as long as I am commander in chief, America is going to do right by them," said President Barack Obama.

The service men and women who will get to meet the commander in chief recently returned from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm anxious to hear his plan for the Army's future, as far as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said

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U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant Trevor Morden.

The president's visit to the Last Frontier came as a surprise to one airman. "I didn't even know he was coming in, until my supervisor said, "How would you like to meet him," said Technical Sergeant Gooch, who just came back from her 5th deployment in Afghanistan. "Speechless was probably the word I would use to describe it. But it's overwhelming."

Another soldier who came back from a 15-month deployment in Iraq called home in California to share the news with family. "It's a great honor for my mom that I get the opportunity to meet the President," said U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman Rigoberto Ceballos.

Air Force One is scheduled to land around 1pm and President Obama is scheduled to start the speech at 1:30 pm.

CBS 11 News will air the entire speech live in its entirety with our full team coverage tomorrow, starting just before 1 pm.

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