President Barack Obama will speak Thursday to military personnel at Elmendorf Air Force Base in a meeting closed to the general public, the White House said.
The event, scheduled for 1:30 p.m., will occur on a stopover Obama is making while en route to Tokyo for his first Asia trip since becoming president in January.
It will be Obama's first visit to Alaska.
A White House statement said Obama will "meet with service members and offer remarks to the Elmendorf AFB community."
As in previous presidential stopovers at Elmendorf, Obama will speak in one of the giant hangars there.
Kevin Harun, spokesman for the Alaska Democratic Party, said Monday that because Obama's stop is a private visit, no events are planned to coincide with the stopover.
The party said it received at least 175 e-mails and dozens of calls after Obama's brief stop at Elmendorf was announced. Some people wanted to know how they could get a glimpse of Obama. One e-mailer wanted to know if the president could appear at his 3-year-old daughter's birthday party. Others just wanted to express their excitement over Obama's visit, even though they won't see him in person.
"We're hopeful that we can get the president up this summer to meet with Alaskans," Harun said. "We're happy that he'll see our servicemen and women, especially with what's going on in the world, and after the tragedy in Fort Hood."
The deadly shooting at the Texas Army post last week also is weighing on any response from Alaska Republicans over the president's visit. No events are planned for Thursday, said Randy Ruedrich, chairman of the Republican Party of Alaska.
"We look at the visit in view of Fort Hood, with the murders of Americans on an American installation, and we thought it would be inappropriate to stage a political event at this time," he said.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, will be among those attending Thursday's meeting. The two other members of Alaska's congressional delegation -- Republicans U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young -- do not plan to take part.
Alaska is one of the states Obama did not win in last November's presidential election. Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, then Alaska's governor, received 59 percent of the vote in a state that usually backs the Republican ticket.
