WEDNESDAY UPDATE 
 
 Speaking to Donald Trump supporters Wednesday in Oklahoma, Sarah Palin suggested her son’s arrest on domestic violence charges is related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 
 
 "I guess it's the elephant in the room. My own family going through what we are going through today, with my son a combat vet, having served in the Stryker brigade fighting for you all America in the war zone," Palin told the crowd. "But my son, they come back a bit different, they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen, and every other member of the military has given to the country." 
 
 Track Palin, 26, is accused of striking his girlfriend. See the full story below. He spent a year deployed in Iraq with the Army. 
 
 "I can relate to other families who feel ramifications of PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with," Palin continued. "And it makes me realize more than ever it is now or never for the sake of America's finest that we have that commander in chief who will respect them and honor them." 
 
 A Palin family attorney, John Tiemessen, earlier told The Associated Press that respect for the family’s privacy is appreciated “as Track receives the help that he and many of our returning veterans need.” 
 
 On Wednesday, Sarah Palin suggested Obama’s performance as Commander in Chief is related to the struggles of veterans like her oldest son. 
 
 “That starts from the top,” she told the crowd. “It’s a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question, if they’re respected anymore. It starts from the top. The question though that comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, do you know what we go through?” 
 
 Meantime, the political dance continues between Palin and Donald Trump, as the presidential candidate has dodged questions of whether he would make Palin his running mate. 
 
 While appearing on NBC’s Today Show Wednesday morning, Trump said he didn’t think Palin would would to do it. When questioned again, Trump said, “She’s already been through that.” 
 
 But Trump said Palin could certainly be part of his administration if she wanted a position. Palin told CNN’s Jake Tapper last September that she might be interested in becoming energy secretary. 
 
 -- KTUU staff & wire reports. Information from NBC, CNN, Associated Press 
 
 ORIGINAL STORY 
 
 By Paula Dobbyn and Kyle Hopkins / KTUU 
 
 The son of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin appeared in court today on misdemeanor charges related to a domestic violence incident last night at the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee’s Wasilla home. 
 
 Track Palin, 26, pleaded not guilty in Palmer district court today on charges of fourth-degree assault, interfering with a domestic violence report and misconduct involving a weapon. A booking officer at Mat-Su Pretrial said Palin posted bail this afternoon. 
 
 The arraignment came on the same day former Gov. Palin announced that she would endorse Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. 
 
 Police say they got a call troopers saying a woman had called 911 reporting a man had punched her in the face and that a weapon was involved. According to an affidavit from Wasilla police officer Andrew Kappler, a man who identified himself as Track Palin also called 911. 
 
 When Kappler arrived at a West Parks Highway home -- a property owned by former Gov. Palin and her husband, Todd -- he saw a man walking outside talking on a phone. The man identified himself as Track, the Palin’s eldest child. 
 
 Track Palin had a visible injury to his right eye. His eyes were bloodshot and he smelled of liquor. Palin was “uncooperative, belligerent, and evasive” when questioned by Kappler, according to the affidavit. 
 
 The officer asked where the woman was who called 911. 
 
 Palin said he didn't know and denied that there was a firearm involved. 
 
 He grew increasingly hostile and was handcuffed, Kappler said in his sworn statement. 
 
 Other officers arrived and located a woman whom KTUU is not naming. She was hiding underneath a bed inside the home. 
 
 Kappler determined that Palin and the woman were involved in a relationship and an argument blew up over the woman’s contact with an ex-boyfriend. 
 
 The two had been arguing for most of the night. He stated they had dinner earlier and went to his sister's house to hang out. From there, Palin told Kappler that he and the woman went to look at some nearby property that he was considering purchasing. While at the property, they argued again about the ex-boyfriend. 
 
 Palin said the woman left him at the property and drove back to his sister's house after having consumed wine. 
 
 Palin had to walk back. A short time after being back at his sister's house, Palin and the woman decided to leave and go to his parent’s home on Lake Lucille where he also lives. 
 
 He told police they continued arguing there. The two threatened to call police on each other. 
 
 Palin said after he called 911, he couldn't find the woman. When Kappler asked Palin about his injured face, he said at some point his girlfriend "threw a bow," striking him. 
 
 Palin denied using a weapon during the argument but said “they were spread throughout both residences on the property.” 
 
 A breath test showed Palin with a blood alcohol content of 0.189, more than twice the legal limit to drive. 
 
 While Kapler was talking to Palin in one residence, Wasilla Police Sergeant Rader talked to the girlfriend. 
 
 Rader had heard crying coming from the upstairs. Inside a dark bedroom, he found a woman underneath a bed. Visibly distraught and with a head injury, the woman came out and identified herself. 
 
 She told police she and Palin, her boyfriend of one year, left a different residence together and argued the whole way home. Once they got to his home they argued in the car and the driveway. 
 
 “They were screaming and he was calling her names,” according to the affidavit. 
 
 The woman told Palin that she had called the cops even though she had not. It was an attempt to calm Palin down and to scare him away, police wrote. 
 
 Palin struck her on the left side of her head near her eye with a closed fist, according to the affidavit. 
 
 She got on the ground in a fetal position. Palin then kicked her on the right knee. 
 
 Palin took her phone and threw it across the driveway. She got the phone and went inside the house. 
 
 Palin went inside and got hold of a rifle. 
 
 He cocked it and was holding the rifle out from him with his right hand near the trigger and his left hand near the barrel, according to the police statement. 
 
 The barrel was held just away from his face pointed to the side. 
 
 He yelled, "do you think I won't do it?" 
 
 The girlfriend “was concerned that he would shoot himself and ran outside and around the house.” She didn't see where Palin went, so she went inside and up the stairs, where she hid under a bed. 
 
 Shortly after she heard Palin walking around inside looking for her. Palin left after not locating her. 
 
 Rader said the woman has bruising and swelling around her left eye. She complained of pain around that area as well as to her right knee, which was left with a small red mark. 
 
 An unloaded AR-15 rifle was located on the kitchen counter. 
 
 Palin's bail was posted at $1,500, according to court documents. 
 
 A pretrial conference is scheduled for Feb. 19. 
 
 BREAKING STORY: 
 
 Track Palin, the 26-year-old son of former Gov. Sarah Palin, was scheduled to appear in court today on charges of fourth-degree assault, interfering with a report of domestic violence and misconduct involving a weapon, court records show. 
 
 Wasilla Police say the charges stem from a home disturbance reported at 10:04 p.m. Monday. “An investigation revealed Track Palin had committed a domestic violence assault on a female, interfering with her ability to report a crime of domestic violence and possessed a firearm while intoxicated,” police wrote in a statement. 
 
 Palin was placed under arrest and is custody at Mat-Su Pretrial. He was held without bail until his first court appearance. 
 
 The arraignment scheduled in Palmer court today came as Sarah Palin made national headlines for her endorsement of Donald Trump. 
 
 An employee at the District Attorney's office in Palmer said she did not know the name of Palin's attorney or if he had yet acquired an attorney in this case. She said that the district attorney was not available to comment. ||||| No PTSD excuses domestic violence. 
 
 On the implied claim that non-combat war-related PTSD does not exist, it does. 
 
 So can a sol­dier get PTSD without ac­tu­ally see­ing com­bat? 
 
 “Yes, you can,” says Craig Bry­an, the ex­ec­ut­ive dir­ect­or of the Na­tion­al Cen­ter for Vet­er­ans Stud­ies. “It’s ac­tu­ally an is­sue the sci­ence in the last sev­er­al years has been catch­ing up with.” 
 
 In the past year, the Dia­gnost­ic and Stat­ist­ic­al Manu­al of Men­tal Dis­orders, which clas­si­fies men­tal dis­orders for the Amer­ic­an Psy­chi­at­ric As­so­ci­ation, changed its cri­ter­ia for PTSD to no longer re­quire that a per­son must have been in a life-threat­en­ing situ­ation. 
 
 The APA found that many mem­bers of the mil­it­ary and vet­er­ans of the wars in Ir­aq and Afgh­anistan, even though they didn’t think they were go­ing to die, mani­fes­ted the prob­lems as­so­ci­ated with PTSD. 
 
 ||||| ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The oldest son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was arrested in a domestic violence case in which his girlfriend was afraid he would shoot himself with an AR-15 assault rifle, according to court documents filed Tuesday. 
 
 FILE- This Sept. 3, 2008 file photo shows Track Palin, son of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Track Palin was arrested in a domestic violence case... (Associated Press) 
 
 Track Palin, 26, is charged with assault, interfering with the report of a domestic violence crime and possessing a weapon while intoxicated in connection with the incident Monday night at the Wasilla home of his parents, where he lives, according to an affidavit by police. 
 
 The girlfriend told authorities she was punched in the face by Palin, who is the oldest child of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and conservative leader. 
 
 The charges were filed Tuesday, the same day Sarah Palin endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump before voting begins with the Iowa caucuses. 
 
 There is no telephone listing for the girlfriend. The court documents say the woman, Track Palin's girlfriend of one year, had bruising and swelling around her left eye, and she said her right knee hurt after Palin kicked her there. 
 
 Palin family attorney John Tiemessen declined to comment on the matter other than to say in an email that respect for the family's privacy is appreciated "as Track receives the help that he and many of our returning veterans need." Palin's arraignment was held Tuesday, but Tiemessen was not sure if he entered a plea yet. 
 
 Track Palin spent a year deployed in Iraq with the Army. When his mother was the GOP vice-presidential candidate in 2008, she spoke at her son's deployment ceremony in Fairbanks, one of the few trips back to Alaska while on the campaign trail that fall. 
 
 Track Palin enlisted in the Army on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 
 
 According to the three-page affidavit, both Palin and his girlfriend called 911 that night. Police Officer Andrew Kappler wrote that he arrived at the Wasilla home and found Track Palin walking outside and talking on a phone. The officer said Palin had an injury to his right eye and surrounding area, smelled strongly of alcohol and acted with escalating hostility, prompting Kappler to put him in handcuffs. 
 
 Police say a breath sample provided by Palin showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.189. 
 
 The affidavit says other officers found the girlfriend hiding under a bed inside the home and crying. 
 
 The argument continued at the home, according to the affidavit, which says Palin struck the woman with his fist on the left side of her head near her eye. She curled up in the fetal position because she didn't know what else he would do, the woman told police. She said he then kicked her in the knee and threw her phone across the driveway, according to the court document. The woman said she went inside after getting her phone. 
 
 Inside, Palin held the rifle, with the barrel just away from his face pointed to the side, the affidavit states. The affidavit adds that the woman told police Palin was yelling "Do you think I won't do it?" 
 
 The girlfriend "was concerned that he would shoot himself and ran outside and around the house," the affidavit says. "She didn't see where Palin went, so she went inside and up the stairs, where she hid under a bed." 
 
 It's not the first encounter with the law for Palin or other members of his family. In September 2014, he and other Palins were involved in a brawl that broke out at a party in Anchorage. No arrests were made in the melee, and no one wanted to press charges. But according to a police report, Palin had blood around his mouth and his hands. He was belligerent until his mother told him to talk to a police officer. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Rachel D'Oro at https://twitter.com/rdoro
– While Sarah Palin was endorsing Donald Trump in Iowa, her oldest child was facing domestic violence charges in Alaska. According to court documents obtained by Gawker, Track Palin, 26, was arrested at his parents' home on Monday night after an ugly incident in which he allegedly punched and kicked his girlfriend before threatening to shoot himself. In an affidavit, a police officer says he went to a Wasilla residence after separate 911 calls were received from the woman and from Palin, who told dispatchers the woman was drunk. The officer says that when he saw Palin outside, "his eyes were bloodshot and I detected a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and person. Upon contacting Palin, he was uncooperative, belligerent, and evasive with my initial line of questions." The officer says he handcuffed Palin, and other officers found the woman hiding under a bed in the residence. According to the affidavit, she said that after an altercation in which Palin hit her in the face and threw her phone, she went inside and "found Palin holding a gun with the barrel pointed near his face and saying, 'Do you think I won't do it?'" KTUU reports that Palin was released on bail Tuesday after pleading not guilty to fourth-degree assault, interfering with a domestic violence report, and misconduct involving a weapon. A Palin family attorney tells the AP that the family wants privacy while Track, who spent a year in Iraq while serving in the Army, "receives the help that he and many of our returning veterans need." (In 2014, Track and other Palins were involved in a huge brawl.)