'Obama's a G'

The media relations officer responsible for corralling reporters and photographers covering Air Force One's landing at Elmendorf Air Force Base Thursday afternoon was in a good mood and quick to give his charges a hard time.

"You're not allowed to tweet on a military installation," he said as one of us pulled out an iPhone and launched Twitteriffic. (Then he showed off his own Air

Force-issue BlackBerry, which doesn't have a camera or Internet access.) Later on he claimed we didn't have "flight-line photo privileges" and suggested that someone try to cross the cement barricade we'd been specifically ordered not to cross -- just to give the Secret Service something to do.

The mood on base was pretty jovial all around -- even among the journalists and military representatives huddled on a chilly metal platform next to the runway (after having moved from a sweltering holding area in the base airport), scanning the sky for any sign of President Barack Obama's jet, which was scheduled to touch down at 12:50 p.m.

Here's what you might not know about Air Force One: The president doesn't get off first, and the "Arrested Development"-style stair car isn't really necessary. The jet was on the ground for several minutes before Obama disembarked, and in the interim, doors in the plane's belly opened up, revealing self-contained stairs, from which about a dozen people stepped off. When Obama finally emerged from the plane, there was no lingering at the top of the stairway; after a quick wave, the president -- who wore a topcoat but no hat or gloves -- jogged down the stairs to greet Elmendorf's top brass and then disappeared into a waiting SUV.

Elsewhere on base, inside a hangar, the Air Force Band of the Pacific warmed up the crowd with funk and hip-hop songs (including "Rapper's Delight," which had to be heard to be believed). Personnel from several branches of the military assembled on risers behind the podium, a giant U.S. flag hanging in the background. On the floor, attendees were divided into sections, and people pressed against their respective boundaries to get a look, leaning over gates and barriers.

As Obama entered the hangar, the band broke into "Hail to the Chief," and attendees strained to catch a glimpse of the president, cheering and holding cameras above their heads to snap photos. Obama spoke about Alaska's fallen fighters, and about increased pay, childcare, better response to post-traumatic stress disorder and care for wounded warriors. When the speech ended, people began crushing in to get close to the president as he worked the crowd closest to the stage from one side of the room to the other, shaking hands, smiling -- even engaging in one or two fist bumps.

Remember that elementary-school science experiment with the magnet and the metal filings -- the one where you lead the filings around a piece of paper by moving the magnet? That was this crowd with Obama.