ROUGH CUT- NO REPORTER NARRATION

President Barack Obama on Wednesday warned U.S. troops of further hardship ahead in Afghanistan as he thanked them for their service after more than a decade of war.

"Not only were we able to drive al Qaeda out of Afghanistan but slowly and systematically we have been able to decimate the ranks of al Qaeda and a year ago, we were able to bring Osama bin Laden to justice," the president told U.S. service members at Bagram airbase outside of Kabul.