(AP) -- President Barack Obama is speaking to about 1,000 graduating U.S. Military Academy cadets.

Obama is addressing West Point's Class of 2014 on Wednesday morning. The president is expected to talk about his Afghanistan plan and to answer critics who say he has surrendered America's global leadership.

The administration said Tuesday that it will seek to keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the war formally ends later this year and then will withdraw most of those forces by the end of 2016.

The graduating cadets will become second lieutenants in the U.S. Army.