Gov. Linda Lingle, Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Pacific Command commander Adm. William Fallon and other dignitaries were on hand to welcome the president.

Lingle was first in the reception line when Air Force One taxied to the reception area at 5:35 p.m.

The president, in a blue-gray suit and red tie, descended the stairs first and received an orange lei from Lingle.

First lady Laura Bush followed and received a beige-colored lei. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice also walked down the stairway.

Others in the reception line included Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, state Sen. Bob Hogue, Fallon's wife, Mary, and Hickam base commader Col. J.J. Torres and his wife, Irene.

Bush then presented the President's Volunteer Service Award to Eloise Monsarrat, of Moanalua. Monsarrat, 84, has devoted more than 10,000 hours as a volunteer pet handler with the Human Animal Bond Program at Tripler Army Medical Center. Specially chosen dogs, cats and rabbits are taken to visit patients, often providing a soothing presence for them.

Monsarrat gave the president a red lei. He and Mrs. Bush posed for a photo with Monsarrat and her husband, Roger.

Bush arrived after a 13-hour flight from Indonesia, the last stop on his five-day Southeast Asia visit.

Bush will depart tomorrow for Washington, D.C., after a 15-hour overnighter scheduled to be spent almost entirely on military installations. He is tentatively scheduled to have breakfast with the troops at an Island military base and to be briefed by the Pacific Command.

Bush will spend the night at the Makalapa military reservation near Pearl Harbor, officials said.

At 5:44 p.m. the motorcade, consisting of about three dozen vehicles, left for Pearl Harbor, where the Bushes were to dine with Fallon at the admiral's quarters.