WASHINGTON -- President Obama's first visit to Alaska, originally scheduled for Veterans Day, has been postponed a day, the White House said Saturday.

The president is scheduled to visit Alaska en route to a multi-day journey to Asia that includes stops in Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore. He is now scheduled to stop Thursday at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage to refuel Air Force One.

The stop in Alaska was postponed a day so the president could visit Fort Hood, Texas, the scene this past Thursday of a mass shooting that killed 13 at a U.S. Army base.

The White House described the Elmendorf stop as "an event with the men and women of our Armed Forces," and said more details would be released in the coming days. It remains unclear whether the event will be open to the public.

This will be the president's first trip ever to Alaska. Obama never made it to the 49th state during the 2008 campaign, and before the primary election last year, he told the Daily News that he had not yet been to Alaska.

Most presidents eventually make their way to Alaska via a refueling stop at either Elmendorf or Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks. It's almost always as part of a trip to or from Asia.

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