The president, who is expected to remain on the ground there for roughly three hours, is slated to address troops at Bagram Airfield. Most of the troops are with the Army's 101st Airborne Division. Representation from components of all services will also be in attendance.
He will also visit wounded troops at a hospital on the base, according to reporters traveling with Obama. The president will meet with a total of eight patients - five soldiers and three civilian contractors. He will award four Purple Hearts.
Obama was originally scheduled to travel to Kabul to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and greet U.S. embassy staffers, but will stay at Bagram because of poor weather conditions.
Almost a year ago, on December 1, 2009, Obama announced his new strategy for Afghanistan that would see some forces coming home as soon as July 2011. A major U.S. military review of the war in Afghanistan is due this month.
Obama has made surprise visits to Afghanistan in the past. Once, earlier this year in March, he slipped into Bagram near Kabul under the cover of darkness. He met with about 2,000 troops at the U.S. base and told them their work is significant to security at home.
His first trip to Afghanistan came in July 2008, months ahead of the presidential election.
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