LCDR Harm Rabb (David James Elliott) the son of a decorated Navy fighter
pilot who was shot down over Vietnam on Christmas Eve 1969 and is still
Missing In Action (MIA), followed his father's footsteps to the cockpit
of a Navy fight plane. Harm was on the track to becoming a top Naval
aviator when he suffered a devastating crash while trying to land his F14
Tomcat on a carrier at night with pitching seas. His Radar Intercept
Officer (RIO) was killed, but Harm was diagnosed with night blindness and
cleared of all charges during the subsequent investigation. Rather
than leaving the service, Harm transferred to the JAG Corps where despite
his far-reaching legal powers, he faces a constant challenge from a military
organization that take kindly to outsiders investigating matters they consider
to be heir own business. The combination of this and his wish to
honor his father, forces him to walk a very thin line between doing what
is right for the Navy and what's right for the common good.
MAJ Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell), is a button-down, feisty US
Marine Corps officer, one of the youngest women in the history of the Corps
to attain this rank. An attorney by training she is a more than capable
match for her partner LCDR Rabb; her credo is "rifleman first, attorney
second." She has to stay strong to survive the physical challenges
of the Corps and feels her training as a Marine makes her stringent training
as a Marine makes her superior to any Navy officer. She has also
had to work twice as hard to be accepted in the "man's world" of the Marines,
and she has had to be tougher than most to gain her peer's respect.
In her unrelenting demand for respect, she take her work at JAg very seriously
and many time finds herself going head-to-head with Rabb, giving him her
honest, straight-forward opinion.
LTJG "Bud" Roberts (Patrick Labyorteaux) displays uncontrolled enthusiasm
in his service as Rabb and MacKenzie's legal assistant. Harm and
Bud first met when Roberts was a young officer aboard the USS Seahawk and
he was so impressed with Rabb and the job JAG had done that he requested
a transfer to Navy JAG. Bud's positive outlook, intrepid nature,
and devotion to duty make him an important part of the team, while his
quirky sense of humor and naivety make him an office favorite who often
welcomes comic relief. Bud is also and expert in communication, his
technical skill and knowledge of codes and computers comes in handy on
many JAG investigations.
RADM A.J. Chegwidden (John M. Jackson) is a "tough-as-nails" former
Navy SEAL who has achieved great success in his varied military career.
In his current position he reports directly to the Secretary of the Navy
and oversees all JAG officers who investigate and prosecute cases under
the jurisdiction of the Navy. He demands the best from his staff
and often throws the toughest assignments to Rabb, because he wants his
charge to be the best. Chegwidden, who enjoys action as much as the
challenge of tough legal issues, is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran
with ambitions to be the Chief of Naval Operations(CNO).
Ensign Harriet Sims is patient, hard-working, efficient, and sweet, but
a bit naive, she was transferred from the USS Seahawk, where she first
met Bud (her fiancé), Harm, and Mac, to the Inspector General's
office in Washington; from this office she came to JAG on a temporary assignment
and has been in Falls Church since. In her attempt to adjust to her
new surroundings and position she will turn to Bud for support, their "military-based"
relationship will not always be smooth operations.
Clayton Webb is the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State that
harbors ambitions to be Secretary of State, and maybe even President someday.
Webb always puts his career first, placing political correctness and doing
what is right a distant second and third. Clayton is officious and
self-important, and is often problematic for Harm and Mac; Webb alternates
getting in the duo's way and giving them aid. Harm and Clayton rarely
to eye-to-eye, even when they must work together to achieve a common good;
though Harm is never sure where Webb's loyalties lie, because of his mysterious
connections to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Webb is the
man everyone loves to hate.