First Lady Michelle Obama visited US troops at al Udeid AB, Qatar, on Tuesday, joined by late night talk show host Conan O’Brien. Obama was in Qatar to talk about the value of girls’ education, but told airmen and other service members she wanted to spend some time with them “because I know what you guys are doing for this country, and I have always been in awe of what you do,” according to a White House transcript. Obama talked about her Joining Forces Initiative, which she said she started with Jill Biden “because we wanted to rally Americans to honor and support not just you, but your families.” Air Force TSgt. Emmanuel Santillan, from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, said it was nice to see leadership supporting the troops. “We aren’t forgotten,” he said. Obama also arranged for vanilla, pistachio, and mocha Cold Stone ice cream to be brought in, because no ice cream has been available on the base for the past two months. Three dozen service members were selected by their commands to meet Obama.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.