Two vice-presidential candidates' sons are heading to Iraq.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's son, Pfc. Track Palin, 19, is with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and is expected to see duty in volatile Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

There are lots of ramifications. One of which is that way up the food chain from Pfc. Palin, the commanding general for the region will be Maj. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr. from Scho-field Barracks.

A deployment ceremony for Alaska's "Arctic Wolves" is scheduled for Thursday.

Diyala is part of what is called Multinational Division-North in Iraq, which in October or November will fall under Caslen, who leads the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.

Caslen is deploying with 4,500 Schofield soldiers, but he'll have many more — including the Alaska Stryker brigade — under his command.

That means the son of Republican vice presidential nominee Palin will be within Caslen's area of responsibility.

Depending on the outcome of the presidential election, Pfc. Palin's Iraq whereabouts and activities may be monitored with a lot more, or a lot less, attention.

Track Palin is expected to provide security for a brigade commander. As such, he'll be out in the villages and cities and on the streets.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden's son, Beau, is a captain in the Delaware National Guard and he, too, will be serving in Iraq. His duties are expected to be as a military lawyer on one of the big U.S. bases there, The Associated Press reported.

John McCain's son Jimmy, a Marine, returned earlier this year from Iraq. Another McCain son, Jack, is a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, the AP said.

News that Britain's Prince Harry was serving in Afghanistan led to him being removed from the country.

IN BRIEF

ARMY SUICIDE NUMBERS INCREASING

The Army's record number of suicides last year is on pace to be surpassed this year as soldiers serve multiple deployments and suffer from the aftermath of war, including post-traumatic stress disorder and failed relationships, officials said.

The rate has nearly doubled since 2001, the Army said.

The Army's suicide rate has increased from 12.4 per 100,000 in 2003, when the Iraq war started, to 18.1 per 100,000 last year, the Washington Post reported.

Ninety-three active-duty soldiers had killed themselves through the end of August.

Suicide attempts by soldiers also have increased since 2003.

"The stress of deployment and combat affects every soldier and often follows them home," said Dr. Stephen Morris, chief of outpatient psychiatry at Tripler Army Medical Center.

Morris made the comment in the Schofield newspaper, the Hawaii Army Weekly.

"The wounds of war last well after soldiers return from deployment, and soldiers and family members face sensitive readjustment periods," he said.

Chaplain assistant Sgt. Michael Swintek, operations noncommissioned officer in charge of Schofield Barracks' religious community, said in the base newspaper that "the increasing number (of suicide and suicide attempts) is a warning sign" that needs to be addressed now.

He said the Army is taking proactive steps, but it is also the responsibility of each soldier and unit leader to help others.

The Army has a suicide prevention theme called "Shoulder-to-Shoulder: No Soldier Stands Alone."

"Listen to each other, notice warning signs or changes in personality, and help each other succeed," Swintek said.

The Army has issued informational pamphlets and held educational classes for all units and ranks.

Suicide prevention training is provided in pre-command, leadership and noncommissioned officer courses, and to all deployed soldiers during the redeployment phase of the deployment cycle support process, the service said.

ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF VISITS SCHOFIELD

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. last week visited Hawai'i to check on the preparation of Schofield Barracks soldiers for an upcoming deployment to Iraq.

Both the frequency of combat tours and the type of irregular, counter-insurgency warfare the U.S. military has been focused on in Iraq and Afghanistan, are on his mind.

Casey hopes to increase the "dwell" or home time for soldiers to 17 months next year and to about two years by 2011.

During a mission readiness exercise last week, Maj. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr., the commander of the 25th Infantry Division, noted there has been discussion about the Army's "full-spectrum" capability given its continuing focus on counter-insurgency and nation-building.

"His (Casey's) current guidance is that as we slow our deployments down, we'll therefore have more time for dwell back here ... and when we have more time for dwell, therefore we will have more of an opportunity to train for the next deployment, but also train for full-spectrum operations," Caslen said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.