"(The) President realized that (McChrystal) would be close and thought it was a good opportunity to continue the conversation and discussion about Afghanistan and Pakistan" that began in September and continued Wednesday in Washington, Gibbs said.

In an assessment, McChrystal called for an increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan as well as a shift in America's Afghan strategy. McChrystal's assessment warned that without additional troops by next year, the conflict "likely will result in failure." The requested troop surge would be in addition to the 68,000 U.S. soldiers expected by the end of this year.

The genesis for the forward cabin meeting between Obama and McChrystal came during a phone conversation before Wednesday's meeting, Gibbs told reporters during a briefing on aboard the plane.

"The president wanted to take the opportunity to get together with General McChrystal and continue the conversation that they had as part of the meeting on Wednesday," he said.