Harm | Mac | Bud

Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. by Sandra (korbella@yahoo.com)

WOW!! Sergeant Major Sowers was a real trip. He was all business, but now that I have spent 8+ hours with him, I think I can successfully impersonate a Gunnery Sergeant. I sure hope so, anyway, because Recon marines will not take lightly an imposter playing in their sandbox, should they find out.

Mac sure takes this partner thing seriously. I had hoped she would understand why the Admiral did things the way he did, but she was pretty upset. She almost got me into trouble right off the bat by mentioning when she served in Bosnia and saying we served together. I did't know what she was talking about and she did it just to watch me squirm! Payback, I guess, for not telling her that I was coming in undercover. I really can't blame her, you know, because if it were *her* going undercover I would have wanted to know beforehand as well. Ah well, next time I'll know better. And Bud...he wasn't exactly sure how to handle our "discussion" of my undercover duties and whether or not I should have told Mac. He did have some valid points, though.

It's time to report for my first official duties as the new Gunnery Sergeant. Hope I do Sergeant Major Sower proud.

I only have a few minutes before our live-fire exercise begins. Yesterday was so much....dare I say fun? I think I did okay as a Gunny. When Captain Koonan told me that there was no tomorrow, I realized that for his men, that was true. And Lance Corporal Sibley did get over the wall. I think I envy the camaraderie these men share. I'm sure it comes from shared combat, and, in a way, it reminds me of how tight the pilots of my former fighter squadron were. I didn't think I would ever be admitted to their inner group until I slugged that guy in the bar. I sure hope the Admiral understands why I was in the brig. Of course, with his background as a SEAL, he probably will.

Now where are Mac and Bud? I really need to talk to her about what I found out.

It was a shame to see Captain Koonan retire. He was in a tough dilemma. I understood why he would place "problems" in his exercises. In real life, when his men went out on a mission, that would be more normal than a mission that went off without hitches. He truly was preparing them for real missions. On the other hand, as I was almost a victim of one of his "problems," I do think he needed to modify his approach a little bit. Mac was right; if soldiers die during training, they cannot fight the war for us. Captain Koonan's words have stuck with me - "I think it's wrong for the country. But time will tell." He was a good man and the Corps will miss him.

I am going to miss Gunnery Sergeant Post. It was enjoyable playing him. And I think Mac got a kick out of it - making me salute her and all. I am sure I have not heard the end of her teasing about switching sides. I'll never admit it to her, but being a Marine for a few days wasn't so bad. I rather liked it.

Major Sarah MacKenzie by Tracy (hmtomcat@sbcglobal.net)

There are just some cases that give you an uncomfortable feeling in your gut, that sinking feeling that no matter which way it turns out, no one's really going to be happy with the outcome. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those times.

Koonan is already a legend in the Corps and he's only a captain. He's spent most of his career with Recon, working his way up from enlisted to officer rank and he designed a large portion of the Recon training program. He's the kind of man that gives Force Recon the reputation that it has. His nickname's "The Duke" and that's the kind of man that he is – a take-no-prisoners, push-everything-to-the-limit-to-get-the-job-done Marine. Only, this time, it's possible that his John Wayne persona nearly got two Marines killed and that's what's so difficult about this case. On the one hand, you can't help but wish that the Corps could get more people like him; on the other, if he was derelict, then it's my job to prove that and prosecute him to the fullest extent under the UCMJ.

Bud's nervous – whether about this case or something else, I'm not sure. Maybe it's personal, merely new relationship jitters with Harriet since she now has a shore assignment. Then again, it could be professional, since this is the first investigation he's gone out on without both Harm and me. He's moved up from third to second place on this case and maybe that's a little daunting for him.

As for Harm – well, he's Harm. I'm not sure why he's not going on this investigation with us, although I admit that it will be nice to take the lead for once. Not that I haven't built up a tremendous amount of respect for Harm, both personally and professionally, in the months that we've been working together; I just appreciate the opportunity to take charge of an investigation for a change.

I'm not sure what case is keeping Harm off this investigation, but he seems so smug and confident about it. He usually is; but given the nature of this case, I almost wish that I could borrow a little bit of that attitude for myself. He's got his case 'aced' and I'm facing the daunting task of going after a fellow Marine, one who by all accounts is a credit to the uniform that he wears ….

I'm not sure what to think of Colonel Malcolm. He requested a Marine to head up this investigation – although I doubt that had much to do with the Admiral's decision to send me. If the Admiral had thought Harm would be the best person for this job, then Harm would be heading up this investigation. At any rate, the Colonel sounds like he really wants to know what happened to Gunny Krycek and Corporal Bell and to know if Koonan is responsible, but his comment about requesting a Marine still makes me nervous. I don't like that nagging doubt in my mind that the Corps disciplining its own might mean I'd be asked to overlook certain things. That's not how I conduct investigations. I care about the truth – just as much as Harm would if he were here.

The beginning of our investigation only brings up more questions. The training map is of little help – the boundary of the exercise area could be anywhere. It's hard to read, which begs the question of whether it was accidentally or intentionally smudged. I'm not going to get any answers here. I do want to watch some of Koonan's training exercises, get a feel for the kind of man, the kind of commander, that he is. I trust my intuition and hope that this will give me a better idea of whether Koonan might willingly put his trainees at risk just to push them into becoming the best Recon Marines that they can be.

He's good – I'll give him that. I don't know if watching the training gave me any clearer picture about him, however. He wants his men to be the best, but at what cost? At first, I suspected that he was intentionally needling me when he suggested I conduct my interviews before the first class at 0600; but then I got the idea that if I'd been a man with a chest full of medals and stars on my shoulders, he would have reacted the same way. Koonan is definitely a man who expects things to be done his way. He has that confidence that says that if his men will listen to what he has to say, they will come back alive.

That miserable, low-down – I can't believe, of all the stunts I've seen Harm pull, that he would drop right into the middle of my investigation without a single word to me! Damn him! I was getting into flying solo on this one, then he shows up. He deserves the way I put him on the spot by claiming that we'd served together in Bosnia. The look in his eyes when the Colonel was trying to remember who the CO was of 29 Company in Bosnia – that was priceless. I'll remember that one for a long time to come. Fortunately, I remembered just in time not to start laughing at the look of panic in his eyes so that I didn't blow his cover. On the other hand, this should be interesting. Harm as a Marine? This I've got to see. It's almost worth being pissed off at him.

Bud's nervous again, even going so far as to interrupt my 'discussion' with Harm about his sudden appearance. I remember Harm telling me after the Connors case how Bud had compared watching the two of us go at it to watching your parents fight. He tries to play peacemaker with us – probably praying that this won't be a repeat of the Connors debacle – and Harm and I can't help but laugh. It does break the tension, but I'd still like to have a word or two with that Squid when this is all over.

Talking to the trainees isn't really getting us anywhere, although the feeling grows that something is wrong with this whole picture. All the men tell pretty much the same story, but I still sense that they're hiding something. And what they have to say about Koonan is all variations on a theme: excellent leader, cares about his men, would get them out of anything. Another consensus seems to be that Corporal Bell panicked and was responsible for his own injuries and that it was only due to Krycek's heroism that Bell's even alive. I concede that not everyone is cut out for Force Recon – I know that from the stories I've heard Uncle Matt tell over the years. But two men didn't have to come close to dying to prove that Bell is one of those.

The only one who tells a different story is Bell. He claims that he saw Koonan do something to the map of the training area; but has he heard that everyone else is blaming him for what happened and is he trying to cover his own butt? Or is he the only one telling the truth? The thing is, if he's the one telling the truth, how do I prove it? There's only one of him against the rest of the team and I don't think Marines who would follow Koonan "to hell and back" would have any problem lying on the witness stand, if it came to that.

There are some perks to Harm working undercover, and I just discovered one of them. After the Recon team got out of the brig (that just seems so Harm – become a Marine and get thrown in the brig for brawling! Maybe Harm might not make a half-bad Marine), Harm walked up to me just as if we were running into each other at JAG and I had to remind him that enlisted personnel are supposed to salute officers. It was so much fun needling him, but he seemed to get a laugh out of it as well, making a comment about my enjoying our new "relationship." This might work out – okay, note to self: no more watching *A Few Good Men.*

The moment over, I filled Harm in on what I had learned from Corporal Bell, while he told me about Koonan's propensity for 'interjecting' problems into the training exercises. It's beginning to look more and more like Bell is the one telling the truth. However, Harm was very quick to point out that what we had was circumstantial and what a good commander Koonan was. I guess it doesn't really surprise me that Harm would have developed a fondness for Koonan. Harm is a take-charge kind of person, and it makes sense that he would respect others who are like that – like the Admiral, Uncle Matt or Koonan. I'm concerned that Harm may be getting a little too personally involved, but he does have a point. It's all circumstantial. I don't have anything concrete, nothing that I would feel comfortable taking into court, and I put off the Colonel as best I could. He's far from satisfied and I feel the same, but I'm not sure that there's anything short of someone suddenly changing his story that will break this case open.

I was right about someone having to change his story to break this case, but the source was surprising. Or maybe not so surprising. I guess Koonan really does care about his men, because when they went back into the village, he confessed to switching the radios on the current mission and to smudging the map on the mission which injured Krycek and Bell. And he made sure to point out that he acted on his own, that Colonel Malcolm didn't know what he was doing. Taking that into account, it's a shame that this case turned out this way. Any Marine would be proud to serve under him.

After it's all over, I had time to think about Harm being in that village as artillery was raining down on Red Dog Five. It doesn't surprise me at all that he's the one who went back into the village to bring Tesla out. That's the kind of man he is – never willing to leave anyone behind. If he were a Marine …. He boasted a bit about Koonan's comment to him, about being a credit to the uniform. I wasn't about to admit it to my arrogant partner, but Koonan was right. I was wrong when I thought that Harm wouldn't make a half-bad Marine. He'd make one hell of a Marine and I'm proud to have the opportunity to serve beside him, even if he is Navy. I just need to see if I can temper his propensity for barreling into dangerous situations. One of these days, he's not going to be as lucky as he was today ….

Lieutenant (j.g.) Bud Roberts by Stacey (jaghm2@yahoo.com)

Nobody ever listens to me. All morning I kept trying to tell the Major that the file she was tearing her office apart looking for was right there on her desk, but she wouldn't listen. Then when she found it, she actually had the nerve to ask me why I didn't tell her it was there. Is this what I have to look forward to until I become a lawyer?

Our case is to investigate the reason for the training accident at the Recon Training Unit at Camp Pendleton that placed two Marines in the hospital. The officer in charge of the training unit is Captain Koonan (the Major says that the Duke is his nickname, as in John Wayne), and that he designed the recon training program. Actually he designed the Close Quarter Battle Section. Our work will be cut out for us because the Major says that Recon Marines stick together, a tight-knit group. The Commander had a good question: how does an officer with that much combat experience put his officer’s lives in danger? That’s what we’re going to find out.

When the Commander jokingly asked, "Miss me already, don't ya," like an idiot, I said yes. It was the first thing that popped into my mind. The look Major MacKenzie gave me could have melted metal. I think she got the impression that I didn't like her. This will be the first case that I have worked on with just the Major, and it has to involve Marines, so I‘m just a little nervous.

When we arrived at Camp Pendleton the Colonel met us himself. He informed us that he had requested a Marine to handle the investigation and when he saw the Major he was impressed, a Marine and a woman. "Outstanding ," was his exact word. I could feel the tension flow through the Major at those words. Not only did we have to deal with Koonan and his Marines, but had the added stress of fulfilling the Colonel’s expectations. Or at least the Major did, and this I'm sure would impact me.

The map that belonged to Koonan sure was a mess. You could barely see any of the boundary lines on it. No wonder those Marines got hurt. You'd think that the Corps could provide more than one map, especially when the safety of Marines depended on it -- unless the map was altered on purpose; and like the Major said, putting your men at risk at any time is unacceptable.

Watching the Recon Marines train, the level of testosterone they released into the air was unbelievable. It's at times like these that I seriously question my decision to become a lawyer, a decision that I worried about for weeks on the carrier, especially when the guys started teasing me about becoming a legal weenie, a decision that I still question every time I witness the brotherhood that binds men together like the Recon team. Will this doubt hang around for the rest of my life? I can only wonder if this is how the Commander feels every time we have a case on a carrier.

I have to say this for the Major; she doesn't know the meaning of the words "back down." The woman didn't even flinch when he started spouting off, pushing all her buttons, basically insinuating that since she was a lawyer that she wasn't a good Marine. I thought I’d laugh out loud when she let him know that she usually had lunch by 0600. I wonder if she misses being a real Marine? I could see the pride in her eyes when she looked at the Recon team and maybe something that resembled longing. I bet she was one hell of a grunt, because she's one hell of a lawyer.

Gunnery Sergeant Post! No one informed us that the Commander was going undercover to be Gunny Krycek’s replacement. You could have knocked me over with a feather when we walked into the Colonel’s office and there he was. He didn't look half-bad as a Marine. The Major just couldn't resist putting the Commander on the spot. Must be something about all that testosterone floating in the air earlier.

Boy, the Major sure was pissed that the Commander hadn’t told her about his going undercover. The argument outside HQ started to get loud with both of them accusing the other of being wrong. Then I said that I thought they were both wrong, but somehow it got all mixed up coming out of my mouth. At least it ended the argument. It was like watching your mom and dad fight, well not my mom and dad, but maybe normal people's parents.

Taking notes for the investigator interviews for the Recon team members was a waste of time. The Commander didn't exaggerate when he said you'd get more blood out of a stone than information from the team members. Even the hurt Marines wouldn't give up anything. Corporal Bell finally woke up, and when we questioned him he said that he saw Koonan doing something to his map, rubbing it with dirt and drawing a line on it. No wonder that map was such a mess; it was done on purpose and, like the Major said, putting your men at risk at any time is unacceptable.

Colonel Malcolm must have chewed the Major up and spit her out. When she came out of his office she was as white as a sheet. She never told me what happened but I think that it had something to do with the fact that we haven't drafted any charges against the Captain yet. The Major said that there wasn't enough evidence at this point and that she wouldn't make him a scapegoat. Later at the Battery B Artillery camp during the live-fire exercise she seemed to be really nervous. Then Koonan pulled up and ordered a cease-fire. Seems that his men hadn't cleared the village that was being bombed even though they radioed that they were in the clear. Why would they go back in?

When the Colonel questioned Koonan about this, he admitted that he had disabled his teams COM gear and somehow the radios got switched. Then he told about how he smudged out the safety perimeter on his map, all because he wanted his mean to know the fear of a close barrage. Not only had he done that, he had been doing things like that the whole time he had been there. What an ass, sacrificing the safety of his men for the sake of training. It's a wonder no one got hurt before.

The Colonel got what he wanted after all -- good publicity for the Corps' Recon training program. When he congratulated us on a excellent job, the Major said that she didn't know if we deserved thanks. I know she was thinking the same thing I was: do we deserve thanks for helping to ruin a good man's career, a man who just wanted to train the best Marine possible, a man who didn't know that John Wayne was dead.

Watching the Major during this investigation I know that I made the right decision to become a lawyer. The truth at any price will protect the innocent. I only hope that I can strive to be as great an officer as the Major is while seeking this truth.