KEY POINTS:
The United States military was bracing for an explosion of media interest in Track Palin, the 19-year-old son of Republican vice-presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin, who is to serve in Iraq and reports for duty in Alaska tomorrow.
With three children of the top four presidential and vice-presidential candidates preparing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, the US military has a "Prince Harry" dilemma all its own.
Senators John McCain and Joe Biden both have sons in the military, but they rarely discuss their children's service. Palin has no such qualms, however. She has repeatedly pointed to her son's membership in Alaska's National Guard when making the case for McCain to be the next president.
"John McCain refused to break faith with the troops who have now brought victory within sight," she said at a rally in Lee's Summit, Missouri. "I'll tell ya, as a mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander-in-chief."
Because of the US transition to an all-volunteer force, the high command has not had to worry about the sons and daughters of presidents and vice-presidents on the front lines in recent decades. In addition, few sitting commanders-in-chief have had military-age sons.
But with ABC World News cameras in tow, for the first of several interviews, Palin is flying back to Alaska to see her son off from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright.
It is the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks and a year to the day since Private Track Palin enlisted.
After flying to Kuwait for training, he will be deployed in a few weeks' time, performing security duties guarding his commanders in Diyala province.
Ever since the British Government pulled Prince Harry from Afghanistan when news leaked that he was there, the US military has been adamant that the children of politicians are treated no differently when they sign up for the military.
Adding to the Pentagon's problems, both Jimmy McCain and Track Palin are in the infantry and thus more likely to face danger.
Jimmy McCain, a Marine, has already completed a tour of duty in Iraq.
Another son, Jack, is soon to graduate from the US Naval Academy.
But the deployment of Biden's son Beau should help the Democrats as they push back at the perception that they are less patriotic than Republicans because they oppose the war in Iraq.
Beau Biden, who is Delaware's attorney-general, is a captain in the Delaware National Guard and will work as a military lawyer in Iraq.
- INDEPENDENT
