"Force Recon" is an episode of JAG that first aired on March 7, 1997. Directed by Alan J Levi. Written by Tom Towler, Stephen Zito, and R Scott Gemmill.
Lt. Commander goes undercover as a Marine gunnery sergeant, in order to help Major MacKenzie investigate a Marine captain with questionable training methods suspected of having unnecessarily put his troops at risk in an area with live artillery shells hitting the ground during a training exercise that injured two of his men.
While undercover, Rabb learns that the tough-as-nails officer in charge of Marine Force Recon training, Capt. Koonan (Phil Morris), introduces unexpected problems into the training missions as a means of teaching the men to react quickly to surprises during combat.
Tropes
- Badass Boast: After the Bar Brawl, Rabb is asked why none of the Rangers were sent to the brig with the Marines. Rabb proudly explains that they were all sent to the hospital instead.
- Boot Camp Episode: Before Rabb goes undercover as a Marine Gunnery Sergeant in, he gets his share of training by Master Sergeant Sauer.
- Funny Background Event: Rabb gets quick-and-harsh training so he can go undercover as a Marine. This training takes place in his trainer's yard, and in the background throughout you can see the neighbors looking over the fence and reacting incredulously.
- Interservice Rivalry: Rabb got into a Bar Brawl with Army Rangers while working undercover as a Marine (It Makes Sense in Context).
- Military Salute: Mac smirks when Rabb (undercover as a Gunnery Sergeant) forgets to salute her.Rabb: You are loving this new relationship.
- Simulated Urban Combat Area: The season 2 episode "Force Recon", filmed on location at Camp Pendelton, California.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Captain Coonan.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: When Mac reacts with surprise at "Gunnery Sergeant Post", she quickly covers for it by claiming that she and "Post" served together in Bosnia. Rabb just rolls with it, though he tells her later that it was not a smart thing to do.
- Training "Accident": Unknowingly invoked by Captain Coonan — he smudged a line on a map which caused his Marines to accidentally cross into an artillary strike, and later replaces the team's radio with a malfunctioning unit. In both cases, he was trying to simulate things that could happen in a combat zone without taking additional precautions.
- Training from Hell: Coonan's training is harsh, and the question Rabb and Mac have to deal with is whether it crosses the line into dangerous and unsafe.
As you were...
Dismissed.
