The government was taking legal action against a contractor of defective aircraft Heads Up Display (HUD) units. Chegwidden wanted Harm to take him up in an F14 in order to "understand" the problem which was making pilots disoriented. C loosened his belt before a maneuver, hit his head on the canopy and accidentally pulled the ejection lever blasting him out of the plane an into a snowy forest. His survival gear consisted, in part, of a rubber raft, tent, matches and a condom (no winter clothing). He set up the tent and built a fire on a flat snowy place, chipped a trough in a frozen log, built a fire, heated rocks, melted snow in the trough and caught the water in the condom- both to drink and to mark an arrow in the snow. The fire melted the ice on the lake he had made camp on dropping him and his gear in the water. Freezing he began hallucinating about being by a fire with Meredith on Valentines day and receiving the large silver heart inscribed with: "A woman would run through fire and water for such a kind heart," words from Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor.
H was told that "he had done enough" by "dumping a two star in the forest" and should go back home. Instead he took the worn Hum-Vee he was offered for transportation into the forest to look for C. He found Cs original camp site but he was gone. Just as the search helicopter had picked up the signal beacon C was attacked on the arm by a wolf knocking him into the raft which slid down the mountainside. The helicopter saw the signal look like it was on a snowmobile then disappear. C fired his signal flare but it misfired and hit a log setting it on fire. It kept him warm enough until an abandoned dog found him. He followed the dog to some garbage cans. Hs Hum-Vee wouldn't start so he began following Cs trail on foot and was frustrated because C kept moving around. Finally he stumbled into a diner and asked to start a search party and offered a reward. The waitress pointed to a booth in the corner where C was sitting huddled in blankets drinking coffee. He was taken to the hospital where he met Meredith and told her that he loved her. Startled she thought he was under stress so he told her of the heart and said "I've had to run through fire and water to get to the feelings I have, are you backing out?" He also introduced her to the "other lady" - the dog which he had decided to adopt.
M was judge on a case where Turner was prosecuting PO Matthew Cantrell for putting a small video camera in the female head ostensibly to look for mice. Bud's only defense was that he was doing it in the line of duty and as a favor to the women to "prevent the mice from making electrical sparks and fire while the women were using the facility." M didn't buy it for a minute and told B & H to work it out before she had to rule on it asking B to "look at my face" and see if he would like the verdict. B & T negotiated him out of the service. M tried to keep Cs disappearance a secret but Coates, who she had sworn to secrecy in order to watch the phones, told Tiner then Harriet then B then T. Finally the whole crew knew more of the details than M.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Friendly Fire - 173
Chegwidden assigned Mac and Bud to prosecute, and Turner to defend, Lt Cdr David Ridley who killed three and wounded three British Troops in "friendly fire." Harm was appointed Judge to both M & Ts surprise and questioning of his "objectivity." H told M that he wouldn't do any "pay back" for when M was on the bench but that didn't seem to be very assuring to M. He asked for Coates as his trial clerk who read books about judges being "most effective when they are invisible" and that "asking a lawyer to be a judge was like asking a boxer to be a referee." When H seemed to take umbrage T pointed out that there were "hunters who killed saber-toothed tigers with sticks and stones while there were others back at the cave who were not so courageous but wise and fair." H asked if they were afraid that he wouldn't "divvy up the meat fairly." Coates told him that he was a "natural born killer." H kept claiming he was going to be impartial and fair; however, he was anything but. During Ms opening statement he stopped her then corrected her then let T editorialize to his hearts content and overruled Ms objection. When the SECNAV came in to observe the proceedings H called them to the front and admonished M regarding favoritism.
Ridley & Lt Cdr Barry, his wingman, were coming back to the coral sea from a long mission requiring 5 refueling's when they saw ground tracer fire. He requested permission from AWACs to use his machine guns but they told him to "hold." Instead he descended ostensibly to "take a mark" and saw some "green fire" so he dropped a laser-guided bomb just as AWACs radioed that they were "friendlies." The only thing T could come up with as a defense was the combined use of stimulants and depressants making him "paranoid and jittery" even though they were commonly prescribed by the flight surgeon. The SECNAV questioned Cs appointment of an aviator as a judge and tap danced trying to influence for a conviction without being seen as undue influence. He commended M & B on their first day and commented on the level of hostility. M suggested to him that if he wanted to help he should "not sit on my side of the trial." M called Lt Kaufman from the AWACs plane, T deferred his cross so H began asking questions which seemed to favor the defense and overruled Ms objections. She told him that "if I'm going to loose this case I'd like to do it without any help from the bench" and asked him to recuse himself on grounds of bias." The SECNAV stopped his car and talked to H who had to threaten him with unlawful command influence. C refused to remove H from the case so M wanted to resign from it. C wouldn't accept that either.
T pressed the point of mixing "go and no-go pills" with the flight surgeon and asked for him to make a conclusion. M objected. H sustained the objection then did Ts job for him. T editorialized and baited the doctor but H overruled Ms objection. Then B objected to something and H sustained it so M began letting B do the objecting and cross examining. H debriefed with Coates and figured out what had happened but couldn't tell anyone. Coates found that "judges must refrain from helping any party that assists their case." So he gave exculpatory evidence to M & B knowing of their integrity. They gave the electro-magnetic resonance report from the AWACs to T who realized that it was the generator that they were trying to fix that sparked and Ridley had mistaken for fire. Ridley was found "not-guilty" but H found his activities as inappropriate and ordered a Field Evaluation Board to consider his future as an aviator in combat. The SECNAV told H that is 1st assignment to the bench was "distinctive." C wanted a volunteer for a couple of months as a judge and H told him to "count me out." He said that he was more of a "hunter" and when C looked puzzled said "the type to hit saber-toothed tigers with a stick." So C appointed M as temporary judge.
Ridley & Lt Cdr Barry, his wingman, were coming back to the coral sea from a long mission requiring 5 refueling's when they saw ground tracer fire. He requested permission from AWACs to use his machine guns but they told him to "hold." Instead he descended ostensibly to "take a mark" and saw some "green fire" so he dropped a laser-guided bomb just as AWACs radioed that they were "friendlies." The only thing T could come up with as a defense was the combined use of stimulants and depressants making him "paranoid and jittery" even though they were commonly prescribed by the flight surgeon. The SECNAV questioned Cs appointment of an aviator as a judge and tap danced trying to influence for a conviction without being seen as undue influence. He commended M & B on their first day and commented on the level of hostility. M suggested to him that if he wanted to help he should "not sit on my side of the trial." M called Lt Kaufman from the AWACs plane, T deferred his cross so H began asking questions which seemed to favor the defense and overruled Ms objections. She told him that "if I'm going to loose this case I'd like to do it without any help from the bench" and asked him to recuse himself on grounds of bias." The SECNAV stopped his car and talked to H who had to threaten him with unlawful command influence. C refused to remove H from the case so M wanted to resign from it. C wouldn't accept that either.
T pressed the point of mixing "go and no-go pills" with the flight surgeon and asked for him to make a conclusion. M objected. H sustained the objection then did Ts job for him. T editorialized and baited the doctor but H overruled Ms objection. Then B objected to something and H sustained it so M began letting B do the objecting and cross examining. H debriefed with Coates and figured out what had happened but couldn't tell anyone. Coates found that "judges must refrain from helping any party that assists their case." So he gave exculpatory evidence to M & B knowing of their integrity. They gave the electro-magnetic resonance report from the AWACs to T who realized that it was the generator that they were trying to fix that sparked and Ridley had mistaken for fire. Ridley was found "not-guilty" but H found his activities as inappropriate and ordered a Field Evaluation Board to consider his future as an aviator in combat. The SECNAV told H that is 1st assignment to the bench was "distinctive." C wanted a volunteer for a couple of months as a judge and H told him to "count me out." He said that he was more of a "hunter" and when C looked puzzled said "the type to hit saber-toothed tigers with a stick." So C appointed M as temporary judge.
Tuesday, February 4, 2003
Each of Us Angels - 172
[A well written role playing episode which used Iwo Jima footage for inserts] An old man visited a grave in Arlington and found a young girl sitting on the gravestone. He told the story of who's grave she was sitting on to the girl which was a role playing episode. Bud = Dr Rayburn, an arrogant, abusive doctor who diagnosed several people dead who weren't; Mikey = PO Rowe, a wounded corpsman who lost an eye and hit on Connors (Coates); Harriett = Joni, a compassionate nurse at odds w/ Rayburn over corporal James Tanner, an 80% burn victim who he was just letting die; Turner = seaman Thomas, orderly, who talked to dead soldiers as though they were alive while taking them to the morgue so their buddy's didn't feel bad; Chegwidden = Catholic chaplain dispensing advise; H = Lt Ron Graham who was declared dead by Rayburn, but stopped his nurse (Mac) from pulling blanket over his head; Mac = Beverly, a nurse who fell in love with Graham; Coates = Ens Jane Connors, a flustered, "greenie" nurse chased by Rowe; and Meredith = Lt Marianne, an unfeeling, distant, chief nurse.
Rayburn used the formula "age plus percentage burn equals likely hood of death" to figure Tanner had 102% likely hood of death and withheld care except for morphine. Joni criticized him but he belittled her for not knowing the formula. During a bombardment Joni was wounded and knocked unconscious by friendly fire. Rayburn said she would never awaken but she did. Rayburn also chastised Beverly for talking to the unconscious Graham but she did and he woke up "to see who was talking." Beverly and Graham fell in love and they "played doctor" in the storage room. He told her that he had promised his old football friend and hometown that he would "bring back James Tanner from the war." She affirmed Graham's statement that he wouldn't be able to keep the promise. When Tanner died Graham felt guilty. She told him that "Each of us are like angels w/ one wing and can only fly by embracing each other." The ship was hit by a kamikaze and set afire. Beverly ran back to the ward to turn off oxygen tanks & helped evacuate patients but was killed by falling equipment.
The old man telling the story eventually confessed that he was really Graham (H) and had married Joni (Ht) after Beverly (M) died. He was met at the cemetery by his granddaughter (also played by Ht with altered voice) who looked "a lot like her grandmother."
Rayburn used the formula "age plus percentage burn equals likely hood of death" to figure Tanner had 102% likely hood of death and withheld care except for morphine. Joni criticized him but he belittled her for not knowing the formula. During a bombardment Joni was wounded and knocked unconscious by friendly fire. Rayburn said she would never awaken but she did. Rayburn also chastised Beverly for talking to the unconscious Graham but she did and he woke up "to see who was talking." Beverly and Graham fell in love and they "played doctor" in the storage room. He told her that he had promised his old football friend and hometown that he would "bring back James Tanner from the war." She affirmed Graham's statement that he wouldn't be able to keep the promise. When Tanner died Graham felt guilty. She told him that "Each of us are like angels w/ one wing and can only fly by embracing each other." The ship was hit by a kamikaze and set afire. Beverly ran back to the ward to turn off oxygen tanks & helped evacuate patients but was killed by falling equipment.
The old man telling the story eventually confessed that he was really Graham (H) and had married Joni (Ht) after Beverly (M) died. He was met at the cemetery by his granddaughter (also played by Ht with altered voice) who looked "a lot like her grandmother."
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Standards of Conduct - 171
Harm rear-ended Mrs. Motley, an old lady, in heavy traffic when she suddenly slammed on her brakes while he was distracted by violent honking from the car behind him. When trading information he found that his insurance had just elapsed. The next day Raymond Harrick, her attorney, called offering him a $30K settlement for her whiplash injury. Harrick already had doctors letters and had filed in court even before H told them that he didn't have that kind of money. H asked Turner for help as his attorney but he refused. Bud was offended that he was not asked but helped anyway & found that Harrick used an insurance co accomplice who didn't send renewal notices; then, he set up an accident with actors and filed fraudulent whiplash lawsuits.
Lt Jeremy Duncan, a computer expert, slandered the SEC Defense and the Governor of Virginia claiming that the Psycoustics audio program used in Marines new helmets was defective. His CO wanted to court-martial him but the SECNAV wanted it handled quietly. M was assigned to investigate and used the helmet. She was convinced it was defective and arranged for a letter of reprimand and resignation. Civilian attorney Harlan Bradford downloaded a JAG boilerplate resignation from the web and got Duncan out of the Navy. Psycoustics filed a grievance when the navy pulled the plug on the helmet development claiming Duncan had sabotaged the 3D audio program while looking at their source code. M got very upset and Chegwidden assigned H to assist her in investigating Mad Hamster to "bring balance." M & H later found that the sabotage was true and he had stolen it for Bradford's "Mad Hamster" video game company. M tried to get Psycoustics to sue them but they wouldn't. She was angry but gave up. H didn't and discovered that Duncan was still on terminal leave so hadn't been discharged yet. He was brought back and court-martialed. The trial wasn't shown but T was shown standing w/ him for sentencing where he got 1yr hard labor, $50,000 fine (his signing bonus from Mad Hamster) and dishonorable discharge.
H received a Silver Star for saving the fleet from a nuclear missile by letting it chase him in his F14 until it ran out of fuel. T was shown receiving a medal as well but it was not mentioned. H noticed a "first computer" on Ms desk and she said it was for little AJs "fifth birthday" coming up in a couple of months. H had a flashback to when they had promised each other to have a baby together in "five years if neither of them were married." Then H had hallucinations and dreams of M being pregnant as well as Renee, Harriett, Coates and Singer. He got a post card from Renee saying that she was pregnant with twins. Tiner suggested that he "dodged a bullet with that one." When he finally discussed the "slip of the tongue" w/ M she thought it funny and asked if he wanted "out of the deal" or had thought that she wanted to "move up the timetable." He said "No." She said "you're a silly man."
Lt Jeremy Duncan, a computer expert, slandered the SEC Defense and the Governor of Virginia claiming that the Psycoustics audio program used in Marines new helmets was defective. His CO wanted to court-martial him but the SECNAV wanted it handled quietly. M was assigned to investigate and used the helmet. She was convinced it was defective and arranged for a letter of reprimand and resignation. Civilian attorney Harlan Bradford downloaded a JAG boilerplate resignation from the web and got Duncan out of the Navy. Psycoustics filed a grievance when the navy pulled the plug on the helmet development claiming Duncan had sabotaged the 3D audio program while looking at their source code. M got very upset and Chegwidden assigned H to assist her in investigating Mad Hamster to "bring balance." M & H later found that the sabotage was true and he had stolen it for Bradford's "Mad Hamster" video game company. M tried to get Psycoustics to sue them but they wouldn't. She was angry but gave up. H didn't and discovered that Duncan was still on terminal leave so hadn't been discharged yet. He was brought back and court-martialed. The trial wasn't shown but T was shown standing w/ him for sentencing where he got 1yr hard labor, $50,000 fine (his signing bonus from Mad Hamster) and dishonorable discharge.
H received a Silver Star for saving the fleet from a nuclear missile by letting it chase him in his F14 until it ran out of fuel. T was shown receiving a medal as well but it was not mentioned. H noticed a "first computer" on Ms desk and she said it was for little AJs "fifth birthday" coming up in a couple of months. H had a flashback to when they had promised each other to have a baby together in "five years if neither of them were married." Then H had hallucinations and dreams of M being pregnant as well as Renee, Harriett, Coates and Singer. He got a post card from Renee saying that she was pregnant with twins. Tiner suggested that he "dodged a bullet with that one." When he finally discussed the "slip of the tongue" w/ M she thought it funny and asked if he wanted "out of the deal" or had thought that she wanted to "move up the timetable." He said "No." She said "you're a silly man."
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
Complications - 170
Bud went before the readiness board with testimony from C, H & T. (Unbelievably) Capt Masters asked if he could run or scramble up a ships ladder then said he shouldn't expect promotion with limited duty and that he would just be dead wood preventing another good officer from having a career. Until the board notified him by letter he was back at jag Line of Duty determinations, OP NAB instructions and updating case law- i.e. "grunt work." One claim for disability from Lt Fred Keefer caught Bs eye because it was for eye injury ostensibly from a North Korean Laser Gun. B went to the field to investigate, spoke to Dr Rayburn, ophthalmologist, who said his eyesight seemed to get better then got worse again after B starting delaying the proceedings. B did a stake out of Keefer's home and caught him looking into a laser in his garage. Buds letter finally came which accepted him to permanent limited duty.
M & H investigated the death of Krista Cuban, the 16 y/o daughter of Major General Chet Cubin, during surgery for thyroglossal duct cyst. It was declared an unexpected cardiac failure of unknown reasons but the General didn't believe it. He conducted his own "investigation" and believed the surgeon, Cdr John Bartel, to have acted negligently because he acted defensively trying to blame the anesthesiologist. Bartel had been telling his usual jokes disturbing Dr Cheryl Ashley at the time when Krista's blood pressure suddenly dropped and she went into ventricular fibrillation then died. A nurse recalled that Bartel had nicked the jugular vein and had spent time trying to blame Ashley instead of saving Krista. Then on the stand the nurse recanted her testimony saying that she had been intimidated by General Cubin and his threats. Ts motion for dismissal of charges was granted and General Cuban charged with undo command influence. Cuban testified that he had been trying to put the "fear of God" into them to find out what really had happened and Judge Helfman said she was going to send for court-martial. M asked for 24 hours to present "new evidence" (that she was hoping to find). M wondered if was really Bartel and went to hospital to check toxicology results. The duty pathologist said that the blood was normal except antibodies for hepatitis- which she had never had. M interrogated the original toxicologist, Dr Stodamyer, saying "would it surprise you that DNA test showed two persons blood in the sample" and asked what the Clindamycin level had been the first time he ran the sample. He finally admitted that he didn't want Ashley to suffer for being distracted by Bartel when she pushed the drug in fast instead of letting it drip in slowly. He diluted her blood sample with another persons blood and ran the test again with a lower result. With the new evidence the judge didn't want to rule and asked H and M to "work it out."
Singer was granted full maternity leave as she had decided not to have an abortion. H wanted to talk to her and grabbed her elbow when she started to walk away from him. Bud saw their talk. She finally relented to talk with H at Benzinger's and taunted H by ordering beer and saying she was going to take up smoking. She denied that the baby was Serge's but he didn't believe her. She said she was going to put it up for adoption upsetting H who told her to call Serge and talk to him. H said that he didn't want another Rabb to live life without knowing his father and asked her to give the baby to him. She said "no" H said "over my dead body" then "I'm not done with you yet" after she had walked out. Their discussion was overheard by a woman at another table and Coates.
M & H investigated the death of Krista Cuban, the 16 y/o daughter of Major General Chet Cubin, during surgery for thyroglossal duct cyst. It was declared an unexpected cardiac failure of unknown reasons but the General didn't believe it. He conducted his own "investigation" and believed the surgeon, Cdr John Bartel, to have acted negligently because he acted defensively trying to blame the anesthesiologist. Bartel had been telling his usual jokes disturbing Dr Cheryl Ashley at the time when Krista's blood pressure suddenly dropped and she went into ventricular fibrillation then died. A nurse recalled that Bartel had nicked the jugular vein and had spent time trying to blame Ashley instead of saving Krista. Then on the stand the nurse recanted her testimony saying that she had been intimidated by General Cubin and his threats. Ts motion for dismissal of charges was granted and General Cuban charged with undo command influence. Cuban testified that he had been trying to put the "fear of God" into them to find out what really had happened and Judge Helfman said she was going to send for court-martial. M asked for 24 hours to present "new evidence" (that she was hoping to find). M wondered if was really Bartel and went to hospital to check toxicology results. The duty pathologist said that the blood was normal except antibodies for hepatitis- which she had never had. M interrogated the original toxicologist, Dr Stodamyer, saying "would it surprise you that DNA test showed two persons blood in the sample" and asked what the Clindamycin level had been the first time he ran the sample. He finally admitted that he didn't want Ashley to suffer for being distracted by Bartel when she pushed the drug in fast instead of letting it drip in slowly. He diluted her blood sample with another persons blood and ran the test again with a lower result. With the new evidence the judge didn't want to rule and asked H and M to "work it out."
Singer was granted full maternity leave as she had decided not to have an abortion. H wanted to talk to her and grabbed her elbow when she started to walk away from him. Bud saw their talk. She finally relented to talk with H at Benzinger's and taunted H by ordering beer and saying she was going to take up smoking. She denied that the baby was Serge's but he didn't believe her. She said she was going to put it up for adoption upsetting H who told her to call Serge and talk to him. H said that he didn't want another Rabb to live life without knowing his father and asked her to give the baby to him. She said "no" H said "over my dead body" then "I'm not done with you yet" after she had walked out. Their discussion was overheard by a woman at another table and Coates.
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
All Ye Faithful - 169
[This was one of the most superbly written episodes, a parody, of the entire JAG saga] The story all happened on the way to a Christmas eve party at the Roberts home. Turner assisted "Mary and Joseph" Tenny, who were evicted from their apartment in a misunderstanding over "drumming." Mary was imminently pregnant and Chegwidden loaned his office to them for comfort while they attempted to resolve the situation. Mary went into labor and C delivered her baby, Jason, in the office secondary to an ambulance failure.
There were three Kuwaiti lawyers on their way to JAG headquarters in a rented car for a site visit that the SECNAV had authorized. Through the show they became lost and finally called C who "talked them in" on phone. He told them "look for the radio tower beacon light" through the fog and they finally arrived, after Mary's baby was born, in full "wise men dress" and being overjoyed, gave gifts: a silver coin, incense and an apartment with a view, from one of their 16 apartment buildings.
Coates came to JAG and Tiner began "sparking" her. He had never been around an infant and brought a stuffed sheep and a swaddling blanket to the baby Jason who was sitting in the firelight in his mothers arms with his father and the Kuwaiti "wise men" standing by. H notified b that he might be late to the party as they were flying a Tomcat home. Co asked Mac "if there was a problem" and she said "only if there is no aspirin." M opened her gift from H which was a photograph of them in Afghanistan- and M said that her present to H was a picture frame of the identical size. Meredith told C that he encouraged pregnancy and labor. She cited: Harriet, Singer, and the lady today- "you're a facilitator" she said.
Bud & Harriet had not been paid in a month and were hurting financially, especially since they needed to buy food for their party that night. They went to see "Scoggins," a scrooge like disbursing officer, who was rude and unhelpful to them. Harriet cursed him with "I hope the ghost of Jacob Marley drags chains on your foot," as she was ill from what they supposed to be food poisoning from five day old Chinese food. B drove her to the ER where a pediatrician took sympathy on them and came, in a Santa costume, to their aid. He informed them that it wasn't food poisoning after all, rather pregnancy. After B & H left his office, the scrooge Scoggins" experienced eerie happenings at work and showed up at the Roberts house, just before guests were to arrive, with food, saving them from needing Big Bs credit card at a restaurant.
H and Boone were on a carrier heading back home, hopefully in time to make the Robert's party. Their ride home broke a tail hook and couldn't land. H found that there was a Tomcat which was supposed to be delivered to the states that evening but he had to bribe the pilots with an introduction to Jennifer Lopez in order to get them to switch with he and Boone. H confessed to Boone that he saw Jennifer Lopez two times a year for many years as his dental hygienist. But the ships CAG was hateful to H saying that the plane H had dumped into the ocean "was my ride" and was "ok when I flew it." Boone told harm "he doesn't like you." At the last minute an unexpected inspection kept all the ships pilots onboard so the CAG allowed them to fly the Tomcat to the states. When H tried to "make nice" with the CAG he told him "I won't allow you to undermine a perfectly valid level of resentment with me" and said he would "yank Hs wings" if he did "anything except go to the assigned destination." They were flying in a storm and were requested to divert in order to assist a "broken" C130 to land in the fog. They couldn't see the C130 through the fog so H wanted to get closer despite the regs. "How many people do you plan to piss off today," Boone asked him. "Everyone but you," H replied. H descended and hit a weather balloon throwing them nearly out of control. They finally met the C130, which they found to be on toys-for-tots run. They "led" the big plane down letting them follow their "red tail lights" to "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer music."
After landing H went to the Vietnam wall with Boone, who had flashbacks of Rabb Sr going down on Xmas eve. M called, worried, and they told her they would be there shortly. They met Lt. "Clarence," a graduate of flight school who had left in an emergency before his "winging" ceremonies in order to help a friend on suicide watch. Winging was normally done by an admiral so H had Admiral Boone do it using Hs wings. Boone asked Clarence was his goals were and was told "to be a Blue Angel" just as a bell rang on a wreath.
FINALLY, all were gathered at the Roberts. Meredith offered to play the piano for them to sing carols and C desperately tried to dissuade her. Everyone was completely surprised that it was a skill which she actually did have. At dinner, Bs toast (holding up his designer crutch) was: "God bless us, every one."
There were three Kuwaiti lawyers on their way to JAG headquarters in a rented car for a site visit that the SECNAV had authorized. Through the show they became lost and finally called C who "talked them in" on phone. He told them "look for the radio tower beacon light" through the fog and they finally arrived, after Mary's baby was born, in full "wise men dress" and being overjoyed, gave gifts: a silver coin, incense and an apartment with a view, from one of their 16 apartment buildings.
Coates came to JAG and Tiner began "sparking" her. He had never been around an infant and brought a stuffed sheep and a swaddling blanket to the baby Jason who was sitting in the firelight in his mothers arms with his father and the Kuwaiti "wise men" standing by. H notified b that he might be late to the party as they were flying a Tomcat home. Co asked Mac "if there was a problem" and she said "only if there is no aspirin." M opened her gift from H which was a photograph of them in Afghanistan- and M said that her present to H was a picture frame of the identical size. Meredith told C that he encouraged pregnancy and labor. She cited: Harriet, Singer, and the lady today- "you're a facilitator" she said.
Bud & Harriet had not been paid in a month and were hurting financially, especially since they needed to buy food for their party that night. They went to see "Scoggins," a scrooge like disbursing officer, who was rude and unhelpful to them. Harriet cursed him with "I hope the ghost of Jacob Marley drags chains on your foot," as she was ill from what they supposed to be food poisoning from five day old Chinese food. B drove her to the ER where a pediatrician took sympathy on them and came, in a Santa costume, to their aid. He informed them that it wasn't food poisoning after all, rather pregnancy. After B & H left his office, the scrooge Scoggins" experienced eerie happenings at work and showed up at the Roberts house, just before guests were to arrive, with food, saving them from needing Big Bs credit card at a restaurant.
H and Boone were on a carrier heading back home, hopefully in time to make the Robert's party. Their ride home broke a tail hook and couldn't land. H found that there was a Tomcat which was supposed to be delivered to the states that evening but he had to bribe the pilots with an introduction to Jennifer Lopez in order to get them to switch with he and Boone. H confessed to Boone that he saw Jennifer Lopez two times a year for many years as his dental hygienist. But the ships CAG was hateful to H saying that the plane H had dumped into the ocean "was my ride" and was "ok when I flew it." Boone told harm "he doesn't like you." At the last minute an unexpected inspection kept all the ships pilots onboard so the CAG allowed them to fly the Tomcat to the states. When H tried to "make nice" with the CAG he told him "I won't allow you to undermine a perfectly valid level of resentment with me" and said he would "yank Hs wings" if he did "anything except go to the assigned destination." They were flying in a storm and were requested to divert in order to assist a "broken" C130 to land in the fog. They couldn't see the C130 through the fog so H wanted to get closer despite the regs. "How many people do you plan to piss off today," Boone asked him. "Everyone but you," H replied. H descended and hit a weather balloon throwing them nearly out of control. They finally met the C130, which they found to be on toys-for-tots run. They "led" the big plane down letting them follow their "red tail lights" to "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer music."
After landing H went to the Vietnam wall with Boone, who had flashbacks of Rabb Sr going down on Xmas eve. M called, worried, and they told her they would be there shortly. They met Lt. "Clarence," a graduate of flight school who had left in an emergency before his "winging" ceremonies in order to help a friend on suicide watch. Winging was normally done by an admiral so H had Admiral Boone do it using Hs wings. Boone asked Clarence was his goals were and was told "to be a Blue Angel" just as a bell rang on a wreath.
FINALLY, all were gathered at the Roberts. Meredith offered to play the piano for them to sing carols and C desperately tried to dissuade her. Everyone was completely surprised that it was a skill which she actually did have. At dinner, Bs toast (holding up his designer crutch) was: "God bless us, every one."
Tuesday, November 26, 2002
The Killer - 168
Inspector Pietro Gianinni of Interpol requested JAG assistance investigating four serial killings in Italian cities wherever the destroyer USS Gillcrest was in port. Harm was diverted from the Seahawk to Italy and Manetti was sent to meet him because she was the only one in the office who had taken an FBI "profiling" course. She had never actually profiled a case before but was told to follow Hs lead. H walked in on her only wearing a towel in his room (while hers was being cleaned). She hit if off with Gianinni because she spoke Italian from her heritage. With Cmdr Amanda Waller, ships captain, and PO Marshall, they narrowed the suspects down to duty section four, the only one ashore during all four murders. Manetti gave the profile as a young man with female authority figure issues. They uncovered two previously unknown crimes but they both had alibi's. PO Lester Petrosky was with a prostitute who turned out to be a transvestite and got so upset he beat him up. PO Benjamin Holt's initial alibi didn't pan out but H eventually tricked him into admitting that he had raped a girl. Feeling they had failed they saw PO Marshall saying goodbye to his new wife who met him in his port's of call. They then started looking for a dependent of a crew member and the Waller told them of her step son Peter who had been under psychiatric help for anger and violent behavior after his father died. They had to subdue him but found a sailor's uniform in his suitcase.
B was found unfit for full duty by the physical evaluation board so he began conditioning w/ Turner's help while he requested a formal hearing. S was back and rebuffed all attempts at friendship of the staff. Ht obsessed at S's intended abortion and forced herself on S about not having one and advised that pregnancy was "a gift.". Later S came to Ht's house and AJ called her the wicked witch. S asked why she cared. Ht told her "I know what it's like to loose a child." "Sometimes it's not what you do that's hard, it's living with it afterwards." S said goodbye and that she was taking 30 days leave to "sort things out."
B was found unfit for full duty by the physical evaluation board so he began conditioning w/ Turner's help while he requested a formal hearing. S was back and rebuffed all attempts at friendship of the staff. Ht obsessed at S's intended abortion and forced herself on S about not having one and advised that pregnancy was "a gift.". Later S came to Ht's house and AJ called her the wicked witch. S asked why she cared. Ht told her "I know what it's like to loose a child." "Sometimes it's not what you do that's hard, it's living with it afterwards." S said goodbye and that she was taking 30 days leave to "sort things out."
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
When the Bough Breaks - 167
Bud is preparing to return to JAG. He routinely Emails Coats, still aboard the carrier Seahawk with Singer, standing up "for practice." Ht, still worried about B "overdoing it," whined to Meredith about it when she was visiting Chegwidden. So Meredith came up with "sit down" busy work to coerce C into coercing B to do: reading 6 major volumes of work by Shakespeare. C was very concerned not to make B feel like his own choice of reading (comic books, star trek stuff) wasn't "good enough" but Meredith persisted. B was able to rapidly return the books because he said he "already knew the stories." Macbeth was "Dagger of the mind," Tempest was "Requiem for Methuselah" and Hamlet was "conscience of the King" all Star Trek episodes. He said that he was writing a fan fiction story himself for a web magazine based on Richard the Third called "Picard the Third."
Singer had wanted to become indispensable to the Captain by studying continually. "All work and no play makes Lauren a dull girl," Coates told Mac. Her vomiting, "sea sickness," had subsided and she since has been eating ravenously such that she had her uniform let out at the waist. She was watching on the catwalk when an arresting cable snapped killing a Boatswains mate trying to remove some FOD from the deck prior to a Hornet landing. After her heavy handed interviews she wanted to court-martial "all men that had a hand in putting those men in that position," seven in all including the Air Boss, LSO and Pri Fly lens operator. Captain Johnson was astounded and requested a "second opinion" from C. And, after S got light headed on the bridge he ordered her to sick bay, found that she was pregnant and filed conduct charges against her. So C sent H to give the second opinion and M to investigate S.
M talked to many people and couldn't find anyone who even liked her "let alone …." But S refused to give any information about the father except that the incident occurred about 3 1/2 months ago before she came aboard the ship. Her refusal to talk made M suspicious but when she could find absolutely no one who might be the father she had to drop the case. H called Manetti and asked her to "nose around" about S telling her "you'll know what your looking for when you find it." Manetti found that the barman at Benzinger's recognized S as a "tag along" with those JAG people who seemed to not really want her along. He also saw her with a "nondescript, sandy haired man" acting very happy and sitting in the back booth for a long time shortly before she left. Harm thought it was Sergei but didn't say anything to M. On the way back to JAG, H told S that he thought it was Sergei and she said nothing except that she was going to have an abortion.
All the men refused to talk to H about the incident because S had "turned all your witnesses into suspects." S said that her shock at witnessing the death had nothing to do with the report she filed. She thought rules were black and white and didn't understand why the captain wouldn't take her word. H told her that he was sticking to the rules like she always did. When H told the captain that the men's silence spoke to a cover-up and charges being appropriately filed, Johnson became very upset thinking he was "loosing it." He made mistake jumping to conclusion S was guilty and then that his men were innocent so he said he was resigning. After that everyone started to talk to H. He called everyone together in a "show" to convince Johnson not to retire. A Tomcat made a heavy and off center landing but the LSO PO wrote it up as normal. The F18 "Super" Hornet landed but Pri-Fly misdialed for a Hornet, 8,000# lighter. It "added" the equivalent of 15 traps to the wire but it still was within navy guidelines. Chief Kaufenhaus realized excessive run out on prior landing to 184" but reg's don’t call for in depth inspection until 185". Technically ALL were responsible but no ONE person was to blame. He said he was filing an amended report and Johnson asked "who the show was for." H said he shouldn't resign and he replied that he found "arguing with attorneys was rarely a winning proposition." M stayed onboard to replace S for 2 weeks until reaching Norfolk.
Singer had wanted to become indispensable to the Captain by studying continually. "All work and no play makes Lauren a dull girl," Coates told Mac. Her vomiting, "sea sickness," had subsided and she since has been eating ravenously such that she had her uniform let out at the waist. She was watching on the catwalk when an arresting cable snapped killing a Boatswains mate trying to remove some FOD from the deck prior to a Hornet landing. After her heavy handed interviews she wanted to court-martial "all men that had a hand in putting those men in that position," seven in all including the Air Boss, LSO and Pri Fly lens operator. Captain Johnson was astounded and requested a "second opinion" from C. And, after S got light headed on the bridge he ordered her to sick bay, found that she was pregnant and filed conduct charges against her. So C sent H to give the second opinion and M to investigate S.
M talked to many people and couldn't find anyone who even liked her "let alone …." But S refused to give any information about the father except that the incident occurred about 3 1/2 months ago before she came aboard the ship. Her refusal to talk made M suspicious but when she could find absolutely no one who might be the father she had to drop the case. H called Manetti and asked her to "nose around" about S telling her "you'll know what your looking for when you find it." Manetti found that the barman at Benzinger's recognized S as a "tag along" with those JAG people who seemed to not really want her along. He also saw her with a "nondescript, sandy haired man" acting very happy and sitting in the back booth for a long time shortly before she left. Harm thought it was Sergei but didn't say anything to M. On the way back to JAG, H told S that he thought it was Sergei and she said nothing except that she was going to have an abortion.
All the men refused to talk to H about the incident because S had "turned all your witnesses into suspects." S said that her shock at witnessing the death had nothing to do with the report she filed. She thought rules were black and white and didn't understand why the captain wouldn't take her word. H told her that he was sticking to the rules like she always did. When H told the captain that the men's silence spoke to a cover-up and charges being appropriately filed, Johnson became very upset thinking he was "loosing it." He made mistake jumping to conclusion S was guilty and then that his men were innocent so he said he was resigning. After that everyone started to talk to H. He called everyone together in a "show" to convince Johnson not to retire. A Tomcat made a heavy and off center landing but the LSO PO wrote it up as normal. The F18 "Super" Hornet landed but Pri-Fly misdialed for a Hornet, 8,000# lighter. It "added" the equivalent of 15 traps to the wire but it still was within navy guidelines. Chief Kaufenhaus realized excessive run out on prior landing to 184" but reg's don’t call for in depth inspection until 185". Technically ALL were responsible but no ONE person was to blame. He said he was filing an amended report and Johnson asked "who the show was for." H said he shouldn't resign and he replied that he found "arguing with attorneys was rarely a winning proposition." M stayed onboard to replace S for 2 weeks until reaching Norfolk.
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Ready or Not - 166
H defended Marine Maj Gen Lucas West (red team) charged with disobeying orders of Army Lt Genl Anthony Manzarek (joint ops leader) when he won a war game that he claimed was "rigged." West used small zodiac boats, troops had shoulder fired missiles and corporate jets were loaded with fuel and TNT and they ran directly at the battle group and disabled it. Manzarek wanted to put a punitive letter in West's record but he refused wanting his day in court. Blue team admiral Tucci whined that he was "killed" unfairly so he had to be "reconstituted" to finish the game. "West," he said, "had targeted their communications which is what the games had been scripted to test." Manzarek claimed he had disobeyed orders to stand down, but West said they had no communications as they were being jammed. Col Haller, West's chief of staff, told harm that they did have an emergency channel to communicate only "real world" emergencies. Turner brought up a previous incident of West's 10 years earlier when his battalion killed a column of Republican Guard who were "retreating" after having fired on West's men, after the cease fire had been called but before he had received the message. Harm found that Manzarek had testified against him back then as well and was angry when West had been cleared. West sent an Email to Oliver North who ranted about it on his radio talk show.
Mac was the judge for this trial and she dogged Hs standard courtroom procedures to the point that he said "I know, sustained" before she had the chance to do it. She let Turner get away with things that she wouldn't allow H. H tried to deal with Turner but he wouldn't. Haller then brought H a copy of West's complete battle plan that he had surreptitiously given to Manzarek 5 months before the game- a spy. He said he had originally been told West was a loose cannon but had now changed his mind. H reamed Manzarek on the stand and made him look like a fool . It was obvious that he had rigged the game to get rid of "an officer which he had branded as corrosive and disruptive." West was found not guilty on all counts. T said he was glad this one was over and H said "you and me both and appeal before this judge would be murder."
Meredith nearly killed C in her car saying she had been to "rally school." During a dinner she admitted to wounding her male high school home economics partner with a knife requiring stitches & loosing his tennis scholarship. He had a great dinner with her and said "I can't believe it." She admitted to having purchased their dinner at a restaurant." C tried, but failed, to confront her about her penchant for danger.
B & Ht had an open-house where C told him that his coming back was up to the doctors. M said the crab cakes looked "dangerous" and H asked her if that was a "ruling or an opinion." B found Manetti in his old office and she called him a "legend around the office" and a "true northern gentleman." He was approved to return to limited duty. Full duty would be determined by the Physical Review Board (85% fail).
Mac was the judge for this trial and she dogged Hs standard courtroom procedures to the point that he said "I know, sustained" before she had the chance to do it. She let Turner get away with things that she wouldn't allow H. H tried to deal with Turner but he wouldn't. Haller then brought H a copy of West's complete battle plan that he had surreptitiously given to Manzarek 5 months before the game- a spy. He said he had originally been told West was a loose cannon but had now changed his mind. H reamed Manzarek on the stand and made him look like a fool . It was obvious that he had rigged the game to get rid of "an officer which he had branded as corrosive and disruptive." West was found not guilty on all counts. T said he was glad this one was over and H said "you and me both and appeal before this judge would be murder."
Meredith nearly killed C in her car saying she had been to "rally school." During a dinner she admitted to wounding her male high school home economics partner with a knife requiring stitches & loosing his tennis scholarship. He had a great dinner with her and said "I can't believe it." She admitted to having purchased their dinner at a restaurant." C tried, but failed, to confront her about her penchant for danger.
B & Ht had an open-house where C told him that his coming back was up to the doctors. M said the crab cakes looked "dangerous" and H asked her if that was a "ruling or an opinion." B found Manetti in his old office and she called him a "legend around the office" and a "true northern gentleman." He was approved to return to limited duty. Full duty would be determined by the Physical Review Board (85% fail).
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
Need to Know - 165
[Captivating episode about the submarine USS Angel Shark going down with 129 men aboard during a "compartmentalized mission (black-ops)" in 1968.] Congresswoman "Lillian," who was the daughter of the Angel Shark's captain, told the new SECNAV, Edward, that "she wasn't asking for favors." She had helped him become "what he wanted" now she "expected" him to help her get the classification lifted to provide "closure" for the families. So he authorized C to hold a second board of inquiry into the incident (the published results of the first one being a lie.) C assigned H & M but also Turner, because of his extensive submarine experience, to be court council. Norman Watts, CIA Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) got in a power struggle with the SECNAV and assigned Catherine Gale, touted to be really "tough," to represent them.
As the CIA was the Original Classifying Agent (OCA) Watts had the upper hand and kept blocking inquiry at every angle by claiming that the new hearings were only "level ONE" security cleared and the operations were "level TWO" so no one could reveal anything. H found that even Gale didn't know why the ops were classified so asked her if she was BLINDLY doing her job "how she knew she was doing the right thing." She told him because "I'm doing my job right and that makes it the right thing." H talked to W, thinking they had at least a working relationship after the Kabir capture, and was told that Watts had given him a direct order to "keep out of it" and not even "see" H. Gayle dogged H, M & Ts every move with secrecy level rhetoric trying to intimidate their witnesses into silence. Gale even dogged W for information about how to "rattle" H, M & T. He told her that with H "what you see is what you get, he never quits" and to leave him alone as well.
B, who was recuperating in Harriet's two story home, found a cross reference on the internet that a CIA agent had "committed suicide" two days after the Angel Shark went down. Surmising that he had been a "double agent" T said that the Russians may have had a Victor-class Hunter-killer sub waiting for them. He also knew that if it had been a "cable tapping" mission they would have been in the Sea of Okhotsk- not where the CIA had lied about. The COMSUBPAC admiral, didn't even know the mission, except that the president approved it! The then CNO admiral did know & did want it released but couldn't say anything- except let it slip that they did search for, and found, the ship due to its having released a radio buoy before it went down. H was masterfully unruffled in the hearing and with every avenue closed by Gale finally called Director Watts. It became much more clear that it really was a "pissing" contest between him and SECNAV so H asked for court order that they produce documents. Watts immediately classified even the recovery as "level TWO" to block Hs inquiry and had to admit that it wasn't the level of clearance but the "need to know" that determined who could see information; and, that with those rules he could even keep secrets from the president! W met H at the "wall of stars" in the CIA building representing those CIA agents who had died "anonymously." He said that he had been told by Watts to prevent H from "going to the press." H apparently effectively shamed him because W sneaked H a video tape of the burial at sea of recovered bodies that had been videotaped by the CIA. H surprised Gale with the tape which showed Watts himself to have supervised recovery! That conflict of interest was enough to get Gale to say she'd "talk to Watts about it. H suggested he could keep some of it secret, tell the surviving families, and show them the tape," which was done." The sub collided w/ a Russian sub which was tipped off by a CIA double agent. Immobilized and waiting for rescue they sent up the buoy and radioed but their pressure hull collapsed. They found the ship, secured the wiretapping devices, recovered bodies and videotaped the burial at sea.
Coates Emailed B that Singer had been "sick" continuously since coming on the ship but wouldn't go to the doctor. B struggled w/ rehab & eventually climbed stairs, in the house that Harriet went behind his back to have her daddy buy for them, to the upstairs bedroom where he then had to deal w/ Harriet's aversion to intimacy by saying "I'm not a freak. I just lost a bit of weight, finally." Watts was really pissed at W & reassigned him to Paramaribo, Surinan as deputy chief of station. He told H "it could have been worse, it could have been Canada." Watching the videotape together Webb told Harm "it's better than stars on a wall."
As the CIA was the Original Classifying Agent (OCA) Watts had the upper hand and kept blocking inquiry at every angle by claiming that the new hearings were only "level ONE" security cleared and the operations were "level TWO" so no one could reveal anything. H found that even Gale didn't know why the ops were classified so asked her if she was BLINDLY doing her job "how she knew she was doing the right thing." She told him because "I'm doing my job right and that makes it the right thing." H talked to W, thinking they had at least a working relationship after the Kabir capture, and was told that Watts had given him a direct order to "keep out of it" and not even "see" H. Gayle dogged H, M & Ts every move with secrecy level rhetoric trying to intimidate their witnesses into silence. Gale even dogged W for information about how to "rattle" H, M & T. He told her that with H "what you see is what you get, he never quits" and to leave him alone as well.
B, who was recuperating in Harriet's two story home, found a cross reference on the internet that a CIA agent had "committed suicide" two days after the Angel Shark went down. Surmising that he had been a "double agent" T said that the Russians may have had a Victor-class Hunter-killer sub waiting for them. He also knew that if it had been a "cable tapping" mission they would have been in the Sea of Okhotsk- not where the CIA had lied about. The COMSUBPAC admiral, didn't even know the mission, except that the president approved it! The then CNO admiral did know & did want it released but couldn't say anything- except let it slip that they did search for, and found, the ship due to its having released a radio buoy before it went down. H was masterfully unruffled in the hearing and with every avenue closed by Gale finally called Director Watts. It became much more clear that it really was a "pissing" contest between him and SECNAV so H asked for court order that they produce documents. Watts immediately classified even the recovery as "level TWO" to block Hs inquiry and had to admit that it wasn't the level of clearance but the "need to know" that determined who could see information; and, that with those rules he could even keep secrets from the president! W met H at the "wall of stars" in the CIA building representing those CIA agents who had died "anonymously." He said that he had been told by Watts to prevent H from "going to the press." H apparently effectively shamed him because W sneaked H a video tape of the burial at sea of recovered bodies that had been videotaped by the CIA. H surprised Gale with the tape which showed Watts himself to have supervised recovery! That conflict of interest was enough to get Gale to say she'd "talk to Watts about it. H suggested he could keep some of it secret, tell the surviving families, and show them the tape," which was done." The sub collided w/ a Russian sub which was tipped off by a CIA double agent. Immobilized and waiting for rescue they sent up the buoy and radioed but their pressure hull collapsed. They found the ship, secured the wiretapping devices, recovered bodies and videotaped the burial at sea.
Coates Emailed B that Singer had been "sick" continuously since coming on the ship but wouldn't go to the doctor. B struggled w/ rehab & eventually climbed stairs, in the house that Harriet went behind his back to have her daddy buy for them, to the upstairs bedroom where he then had to deal w/ Harriet's aversion to intimacy by saying "I'm not a freak. I just lost a bit of weight, finally." Watts was really pissed at W & reassigned him to Paramaribo, Surinan as deputy chief of station. He told H "it could have been worse, it could have been Canada." Watching the videotape together Webb told Harm "it's better than stars on a wall."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)