Associated Press - August 17, 2009 6:14 AM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - President Barack Obama plans to speak at the annual VFW convention in Phoenix on Monday.

A speech before the nation's largest organization of combat veterans is a summertime tradition for presidents. Obama spoke to the group last year as a presidential candidate.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said that Obama will discuss the United States' responsibilities to maintain the world's finest military. Gibbs also says Obama will speak about the nation's responsibility to the men and women of the armed services when they return home from combat.

The president has been in Arizona since Saturday evening on the final leg of a swing through western states that included visits to national parks and town hall meetings. He toured the Grand Canyon with his family on Sunday.

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