ANCHORAGE, Alaska — When presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate last Friday, the Arizona senator emphasized her role as the commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard.

...Some examples?

“We’ve deployed individuals in state service all over the state under Sarah Palin,” he said. “We had defense men down in Seward for the (Mount) Marathon run doing security.

“Out west and northwest we had erosion problems, and the National Guard was involved in some of the protection out there. About three days ago, the Army National Guard picked up a lady from Little Diomede (Island) . . . at the request of state troopers.”

Did Palin directly approve each of those activities?

No, Campbell said. The governor has granted him the authority to act on his own in most cases, including life-or-death emergencies — when a quick response is required — and minor day-to-day operations.

“Some authorities have been given to me that she has acknowledged that I can execute,” he said. “For others I have to ask her each time.”

The recent decision to deploy a C-17 cargo plane from the Alaska Air National Guard to Louisiana to assist during the Hurricane Gustav response was an occasion in which Campbell briefed the governor’s office and sought its approval, he said. Chief of Staff Mike Nizich signed off on it.

Last year, Palin journeyed abroad to visit 500 members of the Alaska Army National Guard who were stationed in northern Kuwait for 15 months. She also stopped at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, to visit wounded Alaskans, including regular Army troops based at Fort Richardson.

The journey marked the first time that Palin had traveled overseas, according to Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman in the governor’s office.

The flooding that occurred in Fairbanks in late July — for which the Guard sent trucks north to provide clean drinking water — didn’t require the governor’s approval, Campbell said.

Natural disasters are fairly sporadic, said Jeremy Zidek, the public information officer for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which is part of Campbell’s department.

Last year, during Palin’s first year as governor, there wasn’t much action, Zidek said. “Thankfully, we didn’t have any major disasters.”

In 2006, however, during former Gov. Frank Murkowski’s last year in office, the Guard assisted at a tragic fire at a schoolhouse and church in Hooper Bay.