Source: Gibbons on way to Iraq

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons has left the state for a trip to Iraq, where he's expected to meet with Nevadans on duty there and to be briefed by U.S. military officials.

The governor's trip was confirmed Monday by a government source in a position to know Gibbons' plans but who was not authorized by the governor to discuss them.

Gibbons' office declined Monday to provide details of the trip, other than to help arrange for satellite feeds today for Nevada television stations and a conference call for print and radio reporters who want to interview Gibbons.

A Defense Department official also declined to comment on the governor's travel schedule or on who else might be in Gibbons' delegation. Such trips are sponsored by the Defense Department and typically include three or four governors who first are briefed in Washington, D.C., before leaving for Iraq.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki confirmed that he took over as acting governor on Sunday and will remain in that role until Gibbons returns later this week. He, too, declined to provide any details about the governor's trip.

About 150 Nevada Army and Air National Guard members currently are in Iraq, mostly in Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. Most are in the Army Guard's 72nd Military Police Company, made up largely of soldiers based in Henderson. Also in Iraq are members of a Henderson-based 140th Military Police Brigade detachment.

Although he's a politician, Nevada's Republican governor also has extensive military experience. He was a combat pilot during the Vietnam War and a reconnaissance pilot during the Gulf War. He retired from the Nevada Air Guard as vice commander in late 1994.

In 2006, then-Gov. Kenny Guinn also made a Pentagon-sponsored trip to Iraq. Guinn, who traveled with three other governors, also made stops in Afghanistan and Kuwait. Guinn said upon returning that his backing of Bush administration efforts in the Middle East increased following the trip.