HELENA -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer and two other U.S. governors took an unannounced trip to Iraq this week to visit American troops and take a look at the war effort.

Calling from Kuwait on Wednesday, Schweitzer estimated he had probably visited with 115 of the 476 Montana soldiers and airmen on active duty there. He visited Tuesday with about 70 members who are part of the 219th Red Horse Squadron in Iraq and some Montana troops stationed in Kuwait and Baghdad.

"The morale is very high," Schweitzer told Lee Newspapers in a telephone interview. "To a person, folks I'm talking to are feeling good about the mission.

"I am proud of our troops, and Montana is proud of our troops," he said in an accompanying press release. "It is an honor to have the opportunity to visit them and see the work they are doing firsthand."

When pressed in the interview, Schweitzer declined to offer his opinion about the war at this time, but added, "I didn't see any weapons of mass destruction."

The Montana governor, a Democrat, and Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Matt Blunt of Missouri, both Republicans, made the trip organized by the Defense Department. About half of the U.S. governors have made these trips.

The governors' trip was not announced in advance at the request of the Pentagon for security reasons. Schweitzer is expected to return to Helena on Sunday.

Although Schweitzer worked in the Middle East in the 1980s, this was his first trip to Iraq.

"It's hotter than a danged pistol, I can tell you that," he said, adding that he was drinking lots of water in the 110-degree heat.

Schweitzer said he'd been asking to make a trip to Iraq for 14 months. He said he had to turn down an earlier invitation because of prior commitments.

Unaccompanied by aides or Montana National Guard officials, Schweitzer said he flew to Washington, D.C., on Sunday. The three governors received a briefing from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and other top officials.

The governors and Defense Department staff flew from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington to Kuwait, arriving Tuesday morning. Schweitzer had lunch that day with Montana troops in Kuwait.

They flew by transport plane into Baghdad. Schweitzer said the governors wore body armor throughout the trip and helmets while flying. They later took helicopters, which are flown only a couple hundred feet above the ground in Iraq, he said.

The delegation, which stayed in the U.S. embassy in Iraq, and had a briefing by Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

In Iraq, Schweitzer said he had breakfast with Montana troops in Baghdad and received a briefing from Gen. George Casey, commander of the Multinational Forces-Iraq.

Schweitzer later visited Montana members of the 219th Red Horse Squadron from Malmstrom Air Force Base, who are scheduled to return home in June.

"I met with 70 of them," Schweitzer said. "A few bolo ties were handed out."

Schweitzer often gives away his trademark bolo ties, with a coin showing the Montana state seal and containing his slogan, "It's a new day in Montana."

The Red Horse squadron is building housing units there.

"They showed me what they were building," he said. "I had an opportunity to run a Bobcat and tore up the dirt a little bit."

Schweitzer said he also saw a demonstration by the Iraqi emergency response unit, which is training to be the equivalent of a special forces unit. The governors also had a chance to shoot the weapons used by the Iraqis, including Glocks and AK-47s.

Schweitzer said he flew back to Baghdad on a helicopter, and the delegation will head to Afghanistan today. Then the governors will fly Friday to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where wounded U.S. troops are being treated.

The Montana governor said he still believes states should be able to request the use of their National Guard troops on a rotating basis such as the need for Montana troops during fire season. The Bush administration rejected his idea last year.

"I think so," Schweitzer said. "Clearly there's at least a couple of missions for the Guard."