A convoy of buses arrived at The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 812, at McKelligon Canyon.

After weeks of intense training, the soldiers, members of the 181st Field Artillery Battalion of the Tennessee National Guard, finally got to come together as a unit, and just relax.

Ramon Saiz, The VFW Post 812 commander, said, “We're giving them a cookout, beverages, whatever they want."

The soldiers say they're grateful to the VFW for providing this moment of rest and relazation, but it won't last long for this group of 450 soldiers.

Staff Sgt. William Johns of the 181st Field Artillery said he is about to embark on his fourth deployment to Iraq.

"Get to come together one last time before possibly being scattered across you know, Iraq or whatever," he said

Sgt. Massengale said, “I mean it's great we can come together as a battalion and celebrate and have fun after all the training we've been through."

It's Sgt. Massengale's first deployment to Iraq.

He’s said he’s already homesick, having to leave behind a new baby, and he's ambivalent about the war he's about to face in Iraq.

Massengale said, “I think we're fighting a war we don't need to be fighting, but we've got to do something to help out."

Many members of El Paso's VFW are veterans of an earlier war that also created a lot of ambivalence: Vietnam.

These older veterans want to make sure their younger comrades are not forgotten or abandoned as they believe they were a generation ago.

Saiz said, "This is what the VFW is all about. To serve our troops and it's a pleasure for us to have them here."

On Tuesday, the VFW post hosts another group of 550 soldiers from the 181st Field Artillery Battalion.

It's something the local veterans group does on a regular basis for troops deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan.