Obama to deliver farewell to troops at Army base

President Obama is delivering his farewell to U.S. troops as commander in chief Wednesday at Fort Lee, Virginia, with a town-hall style meeting.

“Serving is not always the most lucrative, but you dedicated yourself to something bigger than yourself,” Mr. Obama told about 550 soldiers in a recreation center on the base. “I want to thank you for your devotion. Our nation has asked a lot of this generation. You’ve done your duty again and again. You’ve earned your place among the greatest of generations.”

He said U.S. troops show the country what unity is all about.

“Sometimes especially during election season, the country seems divided,” he said. “You’re unified in your mission. You do your job. You look out for each other. You remind us we’re one team, we’re one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That’s what you stand for.”

The trip comes as the administration is announcing the deployment of about 600 more U.S. troops to Iraq to prepare for an offensive to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State extremists.

The president is holding the event in an important swing state less than six weeks before Election Day, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it’s not a political trip.

“The president does not intend to do any politicking on a military base,” Mr. Earnest said. “I don’t think the president should avoid traveling to a military base just because it’s an election year; if anything, it’s in the midst of an election year, we should have all that much more appreciation for the service and sacrifice that’s made by our men and women in uniform and their families.”

Mr. Obama has spent most of his presidency trying to disengage U.S. military deployments from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 2,000 soldiers have been killed in those theaters during his presidency, while he has drawn down more than 200,000 troops from those countries.

The town-hall event will air at 9 p.m. on CNN.