President Obama, who arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Marine One, along with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and acting DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, witnessed the transfer of the bodies, according to the Justice Department.
The bodies included three Drug Enforcement Administration special agents and 15 U.S. troops who died in Afghanistan on Monday.
The DEA agents were returning from a raid on a compound believed to be harboring insurgents tied to drug trafficking when their chopper with seven troops aboard went down in western Afghanistan.
The military transport also included eight U.S. soldiers killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the Arghandab River Valley.
The DEA identified the agents as Forrest N. Leamon, 37, of Woodbridge, Virginia; Chad L. Michael, 30, of Quantico, Virginia; and Michael E. Weston, 37, of Washington.
Leamon and Michael were members of the DEA's Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams, and Weston was assigned to the agency's Kabul Country Office.
Obama's visit comes as he decides whether to send additional forces to Afghanistan. Obama has held a series of high-level administration discussions on Afghanistan.
Earlier in the week, Obama flew to Florida, where he told service members at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station that he would not risk their lives by rushing into a new war strategy.
There have been 58 fatalities in October, making it the deadliest month for the U.S. military since the Afghanistan war began in October 2001.
