WESLACO, TEXAS -- In just over a month, more than 500 Texas Army National Guard Soldiers will leave Weslaco for the war zone.
The men and women will be away from their families for a whole year.
After training for more than a year for the deployment, the group leaves on October 3, 2009.
"I think they're ready to go," said Lt. Col. Joachim Stenk. "We've been preparing for this mission now for over a year and as you prepare, it comes to a point with the missions that you just want to execute them."
The Weslaco group will perform security missions.
They'll be protecting convoys that travel through the area.
The soldiers will train for the mission until the last second.
In September, the group will head to Fort Hood in Central Texas for another training exercise that will last three weeks.
This upcoming deployment is not quite as big as the Battalion's last major deployment to Afghanistan, which happened in March 2005.
Right now, the main focus is making sure the soldiers' paperwork and orders are in place.
The next priority is making sure the families are taken care of.
"Everybody always thanks the soldiers. The people that really should be thanked are the families, especially the children. They have a hard time dealing with it."
The families have been going through what the military calls readiness exercises for the last six months to make October 3rd a little easier.
Lt. Col. Stenk is no exception.
He will be saying goodbye to his daughter soon to lead the deployed soldiers.
"Whatever you can do to support our families, we would greatly appreciate it. They are the ones who really carry the burden."
The city of Weslaco and the Sgt. Tomas Garces Texas Army National Guard Armory are finalizing the details of a deployment ceremony in October for the soldiers and their families.
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