When Lt. J.G. Bud Roberts is rescued after being taken hostage by a crazed Navy SEAL, long since MIA and homeless, Harm is surprised by Admiral Chegwidden's decision to have JAG handle the man's defense. Not only is the man accused of taking Bud hostage, but of hugging two would-be convenience store robbers during the robbery. However, the homeless SEAL will not allow Harm help in his defense, and Harm and his team must figure out on their own why the SEAL was there during the robbery and what set him off if they are to successfully defend him.
After being diagnosed with night blindness, Lt. Cmdr. Harmon Rabb, an F-14 Tomcat fighter pilot, is forced to change careers. Cmdr. Rabb chooses to join the Navy's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. There he both defends and sometimes prosecutes Navy and Marine Corps defendants. He is sometimes assisted by fellow lawyer, Lt. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie, and his other fellow JAG staff.
Many of Rabb's cases require him to both keep up his F-14 qualifications and travel the world, in order to bring justice to the cases he is trying.
Rabb must also deal with the fact that his father, also a former Navy pilot, never returned home after being held prisoner after he was shot down in North Vietnam. Rabb believing his father is still alive continues the search he has pursued to find his father, since his teens.