Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. was apparently traveling to visit troops in the Middle East this week, although his office Monday would only confirm that he was traveling to an undisclosed destination.

Huntsman traveled to Iraq last March to visit American troops. And there are several Utah National Guard and Army Reserve units now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office issued a press release Monday saying that he and several other governors, including Huntsman, were in Washington, D.C., on Monday receiving a briefing before flying overseas.

Huntsman's Utah office did not issue its regular weekly schedule of Huntsman's meetings/travels to the media this week. When queried, deputy press secretary Lisa Roskelley said she could not comment on the governor's travels except to say that he was out of state.

The Defense Department routinely won't allow traveling dignitaries to announce they are in Middle Eastern hot spots until they safely arrive.

And Roskelley said it would be inaccurate to say that Huntsman was in the Middle East today but declined to say if it would be accurate to say he was visiting the area on Wednesday or later.

Huntsman is not going to India in this trip, she said.

The governor and first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman are in the process of adopting a young girl in India and plan to travel to the subcontinent in December to pick her up. (Huntsman has a photo of the child in his Capitol Hill office along with other pictures of his children.)

According to the Pentagon, there are 1,039 National Guard troops and reservists from Utah on active duty, both within and outside the United States.