That's right folks, I met the President of the United States.  This past Thursday, Obama stopped off at my base to refuel Air Force One.  He took that time to give a speech at my base.  It was a typical canned speech by any politician.  Before I say any more about his speech, I will tell you how the day started.

First, I went to one formation at 0615 (6:15am for the civilians).  Then we had another at 0645, followed by a march through the snow to the next location.  At 0745, we loaded up on busses and were taken to a holding area.  We sat there for hours.  Finally we were taken to the hanger where Obama would give his speech.  We went through a series of security checks before being granted access to the building.

As I walked in, I noticed that the Air Force guys had gotten there first.  They took up all the space at the front.  I met up with some of my soldiers and we just stood there.  There were two hours until the expected start time.  Then an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel shouted that he wanted more Army people up at the front.  I pushed my soldiers forward telling the Air Force that we were coming through.  I ended up about 20 feet away from the podium.  That left us with about 90 minutes to go.

I stood there and watched as the few selected soldiers filled in the seats behind the podium.  The Big-O came in and gave his speech.  As I said, it was a canned speech that I've heard from politicians on every level give since 2001.  "We have brave men and women in such and such part of the world.  They are making me proud" and other bullshit lines.

The speech ended, and the Big-O came along to shake hands.  When he came over to where I was, I held out my fist.  The President of the United States gave me a fist bump.  He followed it up with a high-five.

After looking him in the eye and exchanging a modern manly greeting, I see him more as a normal person.  I still will look at him with a critical eye (as I do with every politician), but I will consider that he is a human being.

Also, I talked to a few of the Secret Service agents.  They let me get up on the stage and take a few photos after everyone left.  Those guys were cool.

And no wallboy, these photos are not faked.  Look at the news articles from 12NOV09, and you will see that he stopped off in Alaska and gave a speech.