Gov. Chris Gregoire made good on a months-old promise and quashed speculation she was leaving her job when she dropped in to visit Washington National Guard soldiers serving in Iraq.

“Every one of these individuals, I want you to know, could not be more proud,” she told reporters during a conference call Tuesday. “The morale is high.”

On her first trip to Iraq, the governor met with service members and public officials, had lunch with a unit of the 81st Brigade Combat Team, had dinner with another and held a town-hall meeting with a third, she said.

The governor’s office didn’t say which bases Gregoire would visit, and brigade spokeswoman Sgt. Emily Suhr said she couldn’t release details while the governor was in Iraq.

Gregoire traveled Sunday to Washington, D.C. She met Monday with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and other Pentagon officials. Later Monday, she traveled to the Middle East with Govs. Jon Corzine of New Jersey and Rick Perry of Texas, who were also visiting troops from their states.

The trip was carried out under a cloak of darkness, and her absence sparked rumors about her future. The governor canceled a forum speech set for Tuesday, and her office refused to say where she was. That created speculation that she would soon accept an appointment in the Obama administration.

She told reporters Tuesday she had only just learned of the speculation, and that she ran for re-election last year because she wanted to be governor: “I made it clear early on I would not accept an appointment.

“I’m sorry to say I’ve been on a flight since Sunday, and I’m really not aware of any inconvenience or problems this has caused,” she added.

The Legislature convenes Monday. She told reporters that the State Department and the Defense Department asked her not to disclose her trip, citing security reasons.

“They were trying to put (the trip) together for later in the year,” a spokeswoman in the governor’s office said. “But because of the legislative session, they couldn’t go. They decided a few days ago to move the trip up.”

The state paid $711 for a round-trip ticket to Washington, D.C., and the federal government picked up the tab for the remainder of the trip, the spokeswoman said.

Gregoire is scheduled to return Thursday.

About 2,400 Guardsmen from Washington and another 900 from California and Texas mobilized in August for a 12-month deployment. The soldiers received advanced training at Yakima; Fort McCoy, Wis.; and in Kuwait before entering Iraq in late October.

The 81st Brigade is scattered among bases across central and northern Iraq, where soldiers run day-to-day life on the bases or provide security for the supply convoys that crisscross Iraq’s highways in the dark of night.

The unit is expected to return home this summer.

This is the second deployment for the brigade; it had a similar task in 2004-05, when it was stationed at Logistical Support Area Anaconda near Balad.

In November, brigade commander Col. Ronald Kapral told The News Tribune that Iraq has taken a huge step since the 81st’s previous deployment.

“There is no comparison between Iraq in 2004 and what it is today,” Kapral, a Graham resident, said during a phone interview from his office at Camp Ramadi, in Anbar province west of Baghdad.

Gregoire attended several send-off ceremonies across the state Aug. 19 and promised the soldiers she would visit them in Iraq.

She told hundreds gathered at Game Farm Park in Auburn that the soldiers wouldn’t face the same type of homecoming to which her Vietnam War veteran husband, Mike, returned. The United States “didn’t exactly put out the welcome mat,” she said.

“We all know you have a tough, tough, tough job ahead of you,” she said at the time. “We also know it’s dangerous. We’ll be there, every day, thinking of you. We’ll be there, every day, praying for you. And we’re going to be here to welcome each and every one of you home, safe and secure.”

Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758

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