JAG s05e01 Episode Script
King of the Greenie Board (1)
Badman 1, this is Red Crown.
We have a pop-up on the surface, bearing 250 at seven miles.
Request you investigate.
Red Crown, Badman 1 is on it.
- Cameras ready? - Just point and shoot.
Smile for the birdie.
- What was that? - Bird strike in the port engine.
I'm shutting it down.
We're losing fuel.
Gas pump, this is Badman 1 declaring an emergency.
Port engine is shut down.
We're losing fuel and request priority.
Badman 1, be advised we have only 1.
5 to give and X-Man is at the pump.
X-Man's breaking off.
Tanker's all yours, Pappy.
Don't cut your fuel short, X-Man.
We can share and wait for the next tanker up.
You take it all, Pappy.
You're leaking like my '65 Mustang.
Thanks, X-Man.
If you're low on fuel, don't wait around for me, X-Man.
It's okay, Pappy.
I'm good to the boat.
Badman, this is War Paint strike.
Dirty up in three miles and shift to Paddles.
War Paint, Paddles, this is Badman.
Gear down.
Single-engine approach, ball manual, 0.
5.
--on flight deck.
Damaged airplane in the groove.
All unnecessary personnel clear the flight area.
Paddles, get him on the first pass.
He'll never make it around for a second.
Badman 1, ball.
Roger, ball.
You're a little low, a little low.
You're below the glide path.
Pick it up.
Pick it up! Power, power! - Badman 1, ball.
- Roger, ball.
You're a little low, a little low.
You're below the glide path.
Pick it up.
Pick it up! Power, power! Badman 2, take it around one more time.
Checking bird in landing area.
This is Badman 2.
Can't do it, boss.
I'm sucking on fumes.
Get that Tomcat out of here.
We got another bird with bingo fuel.
Clear the deck! Badman 2, ball.
God, he just lost the port engine.
Hard landing.
Check the port main mount for that Tomcat.
Give me a good post-flight, Griggsy.
Right away, sir.
- Thrill a minute up there, Pappy.
- You all right? That wasn't exactly your classic X-Man trap.
The sun got in my eyes.
Really? I thought it was that port engine you lost.
Did I lose an engine? Yeah.
That's what happens when you run out of fuel.
Aren't you the best little guy? Aren't you, A.
J.
? Aren't you the best little guy? He'd be better than the best if he spent his nights sleeping instead of testing his lungs all night.
Cheer up, mate.
Maybe your midnight warbler will be the next Mick Jagger.
Is that a new recruit I see? Oh, colonel.
Congratulations on your promotion.
- Thank you.
- Wanna hold him? - There we go.
- Hello, sailor.
You must be why girls go for a man in uniform.
I'm sorry I missed your wetting down, but A.
J.
Had the croup.
Well, being a mom comes first.
Lieutenant Sims.
Maybe you know where the file is for the last command inspection.
Yes, sir.
Right over here, sir.
At least it's supposed to be right here, sir.
I'm sure I put it there.
Unless I filed it under C.
Well, Tiner, maybe you should look for it.
- Yes, sir.
- It's supposed to be right here.
What is your weekly schedule doing with the special-request chits? I was wondering where that was.
You know, lieutenant, since you've been on reserve duty, this office is a bigger mess than a sack full of damn cats.
It's good to see that somebody's squared away.
All right, my friend, the time has come.
Are you ready? Give me what you got.
- No.
- Heads up, everybody.
Behold, the first turd on X-Man's record.
Can you believe it? After all those greens, we're talking 14 in a row.
The greatest streak since DiMaggio, and suddenly, splat, the king of the greenie board, the master of the three wire, an alien if there ever was one, steps in the same sorry stuff as the rest of us.
That is impressive.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just think, if I snag the one wire 10 more times, I'd be even with the rest of you sluggers.
Hey, Buxton, take another look at the greenie board.
Someone's gaining on you.
Oh, you mean the senior citizen I helped across the street today.
Six straight greens.
Six straight happy landings.
He still won't catch the uncatchable me.
Attention on deck.
As you were, people.
Before I start this briefing, Buxton, what were you trying to prove today? That you're good to the last drop? No, sir.
I was just trying to help Commander Rabb, sir.
My bird ate too much seagull, CAG.
- The X-Man saved my six.
- And damn near lost his.
Next time, you both take on some fuel then wait for the next gas station.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Aye, aye, sir.
I know Commander Imes is trying a court-martial in Pensacola.
So why does the watch bill say that she's on duty this weekend? - There must be a mistake, sir.
- And it's not the only one, Tiner.
I can't seem to find Commander Mattoni's name on here anywhere.
I believe that's because he's on leave, sir.
I know that, Tiner.
But for the whole damn month? Now it seems Lieutenant Sims has disappeared.
Actually, she's changing A.
J.
- The baby, sir.
- A perfect metaphor for the moment.
You know, lieutenant, I wish we'd have cloned your wife.
She obviously did a hell of a lot more around this office than raid the refrigerator when she was pregnant.
Hey, you two are catching cases, right? No, sir.
We have a plea-bargaining session on the Winrow case.
If my client doesn't like Colonel MacKenzie's counteroffer, the court-martial starts tomorrow.
It's supposed to be on the docket, sir.
Is something wrong, admiral? No.
No, nothing that couldn't be fixed by a good, old-fashioned lobotomy.
Tiner.
Two years in the brig, or six months.
Which sounds better to you, Corporal Winrow? - Neither one, ma'am.
- Well, from where I'm sitting, those look like the only choices you're gonna get.
But I know how to fire the Brimstone 2000, ma'am.
When you're sober.
I had some drinks the night before, yes, ma'am.
But I got my sleep.
Not enough to keep you from missing your target and burning down 227 acres of woods at Quantico.
That's not what the Marine Corps expects from its weapons instructors.
I'm aware of that, ma'am.
I just don't understand how it happened.
Commander, can you make your client listen to reason? Put yourself in his shoes, colonel.
Even with a lesser sentence, he's still facing a bad-conduct discharge.
He shouldn't expect anything else after what he did.
Give us a minute.
- Do you wanna reconsider? - No, sir.
We'll fight it.
Colonel, you never told me how you celebrated your promotion.
Privately.
Well, if you ever wanna go public, I'll be honoured to take you to dinner.
Don't you have a court-martial to lose? Begging your pardon, ma'am, but I believe you're being a tad overconfident.
Mic, your chances would be better defending Mrs.
O'Leary's cow.
The Great Chicago Fire.
The cow wouldn't have looked so bad if the fire engine had gone to the right address.
Oh, thanks for enlightening me.
Okay.
So you wouldn't care to have a wager on Corporal Winrow's fate, would you? Oh, let me guess.
Loser buys dinner? Great minds think alike.
Not if you think we're gonna call it a date.
All SDOs report to PRIFLY to see the air boss.
I'm quoting from the rules of engagement: "Elements of Command Battle Group 63 may exercise proportional force only in order to disengage from units demonstrating hostile intent or committing hostile acts, and only for the duration of the hostile acts.
The battle group will pass request for use of force to the NATO force commander.
" Yeah, and if I have to scratch my six, do I need to phone the president? Lock it up, lieutenant.
Obviously, these rules of engagement are somewhat restrictive.
But we're facing a difficult situation here trying to keep the Yugoslavians in line without antagonising any of our allies.
Especially the Russians.
Now, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Yeah, I was just wondering, since you are the gentleman from Fleet JAG, if you would be so kind as to give us a translation.
I thought I just did that.
So if I get locked on by a MiG, I can shoot then? When hostile intent is perceived, you are permitted to exercise only a proportional response while asking for guidance from a higher authority.
Help me, Lord.
But if they fire a missile, we can rap their knuckles? Firing a missile is clearly a hostile act.
So, what, we're just meat on the table until then? Is that what you're telling us? Attention on deck.
Thank you, Lieutenant Aldridge.
- That'll be all.
- Aye, sir.
Take your seats.
Moan and groan all you like.
What you just heard is the letter of the law.
But if a MiG is manoeuvring to your six, you will see a missile come off its rails before they have a chance to fire one.
Harm, you're our resident lawyer.
Any problem with that? It's always a judgement call, CAG, but a MiG wouldn't be there to send you flowers.
So is that a yes or a no? We're the good guys, X-Man.
We didn't get that way by firing first.
Whose side are you on anyway? Ours or that legal weenie's? His designator is the same as yours, X-Man.
That ought to be answer enough for you.
All right.
There are no changes in our boundaries.
Waterloo Yellow remains 42 kilometres.
Waterloo Red is still 20 kilometres.
You go past Red, you are violating the rules of engagement.
Commander Sanders has been designated to take the reconnaissance package in.
Schmidt, you're search and rescue.
Suppression of enemy air defence is Papadakis.
Carlson, you're the tanker king.
Flight leader, Division 1.
Harm, I'd like you to take over from Lieutenant Buxton.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- All right, let's go fly.
Corporal Jennings, that depth charge you're talking about, it isn't used to blow up submarines, is it? No, ma'am.
It's a drink.
A little more specific, please.
Well, first you have a mug of beer, see, and then you have a shot glass full of Well, I don't know, me and Winnie-- Corporal Winrow.
--We went with bourbon.
Then you drop the shot glass in the mug of beer and-- And voilà, a depth charge.
How many of these concoctions did Corporal Winrow drink that night in the Boom Boom Room? Objection.
The government has established the witness was drinking.
That hardly qualifies him as someone capable of counting drinks.
I'll treat it as an informed estimate, Commander Brumby.
Overruled.
Go ahead, corporal.
Well, we were there from 9 until they closed at 2, ma'am.
Probably a drink an hour, maybe two once or twice.
I mean, our buddy had orders for Pendleton.
We wanted to send him off right.
I'm sure you did.
No further questions.
Corporal Jennings, you're a weapons instructor at the basic school with Corporal Winrow, is that correct? Yes, sir.
I've worked with him the past 10 months, sir.
And what is our opinion of him as a Marine, not a drinker? Well, sir, Corporal Winrow is the best, sir.
He cares most about the men we train, puts in the longest hours, performs better on all the tests than the rest of us combined, sir.
I mean, he's hardcore, sir.
Thank you.
Tensions continue to fester in Kosovo despite the supposed cessation of hostilities.
NATO sources are reporting increased activity by rogue factions of the Serb army, who continue to terrorise returning refugees in border areas.
Meanwhile, there are more and more indications that much of the Yugoslav air force survived last spring's bombing.
Ranking members of the U.
S.
Military say that Yugoslav fighter squadrons possess enough Russian-made MiGs to cause, quote: "Significant mischief in the no-fly zone.
" Makes you wonder how Commander Rabb is doing, doesn't it? Well, lieutenant, I try to look at the big picture.
The problems of one person not amounting to a hill of beans and all that, but yes, the commander does cross my mind now and then.
Living his dreams, set free from the courtroom, unshackled from his desk and the mountains of paperwork that plagued him.
It could be worse, Harm.
You could be trying to sleep on all these files you put up here.
Oh, I'm sorry, Tuna.
I thought I put everything back.
How could you tell? What are you writing now, the sequel to Moby Dick? A letter to a computer company that's trying to harpoon one of our troopers for a modem he's already paid for.
Unhappy with your collateral duty, Commander Rabb? I've got an opening for a substance-abuse control officer if you'd rather watch aviators pee.
Not really my field of expertise, sir.
I guess you're stuck being the wing legal officer.
Here.
It'll be a while before I get to this, CAG.
Put it on top.
Buxton brought charges against his plane captain.
Gentlemen.
Flight deck move out 142 and 200.
Nobody feels worse about what happened than I do, sir.
Well, an apology isn't gonna help your case any, Airman Griggs.
It was a $90,000 piece of equipment that dropped off this aircraft.
Yes, sir.
But you've got to understand, I got the Navy in my blood, sir.
Just like my father and my grandfather.
And the only place I wanna be is on that flight deck, and working on Lieutenant Buxton's Tomcat.
He's the best, you know, sir? Well, that's the general consensus.
You wanna tell me what happened? There was a new pod, sir.
An infrared sensor unit.
We hooked it onto the lieutenant's wing and then I signed off on the job.
But that was the first time I'd ever seen one of those things, sir.
That's unfortunate, but it doesn't relieve you of responsibility.
Get the training, learn the equipment.
It'd be great if it really worked that way, sir.
But we're undermanned, and I never got the training.
You did receive a manual instructing you how to install the pod, didn't you? - Yes, sir, I did.
- Do you still have it? I can find it for you, sir.
But there's one thing that manual won't tell you.
The pod's a murphy.
It slides on the right way, but, oh, yeah, it slides on backwards too.
So what? It's his job to know which way is up.
You checked the pod yourself on pre-flight? Just like the checklist says, commander.
You didn't notice any problem? The X-Man does not have x-ray vision.
Well, I'll make a note of that.
Yeah, there wasn't anything funny when that pod fell off.
I just launched and I was making my clearing turn.
Losing that store disrupted airflow over the horizontal tail.
I was below flight-deck level, skimming the water.
The air boss was yelling "eject.
" You didn't eject.
That's because I'm an above-average aviator, sir.
If I wasn't, that kid would be up on murder charges.
So do your job, commander.
Mr.
Tennyson, when you say your company builds the Brimstone 2000 to be used under less-than-optimum conditions, what are you referring to? Combat, of course.
A weapon may have to take a beating to give a beating.
That's what I always say.
Did the Widmark Corporation test the Brimstone 2000 under such conditions? Absolutely, colonel.
There's never been a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon as light and powerful.
We made sure it was as good as we told everybody it was.
Did any of your tests involve having the weapon fired by someone who'd been drinking heavily a few hours before? - Objection.
- Overruled.
You may answer the question, Mr.
Tennyson.
No, colonel.
No one who was inebriated has ever tested the Brimstone 2000.
Would you ever let anyone who was inebriated fire the weapon? No.
Never.
Thank you.
Mr.
Tennyson, how many weapons has your company developed over the past ten years? A dozen, maybe more.
And in testing these weapons, have any of them ever gone off course? During testing? Yes.
And when that happened, was it because the operators were drunk? - No.
- Thank you.
One last question, Mr.
Tennyson.
Since it became operational, have there been any other mishaps with the Brimstone 2000? No.
None at all.
Cheer up, Mic.
It's almost over.
- Is that your final witness? - Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez.
The Marines' own expert on the Brimstone 2000.
I'll prep him, put him on the stand, and how does Calisto sound for that dinner you're gonna owe me? - Pricey.
- Perfect.
Deck crew, prepare to receive helo.
Deck crew, prepare to receive helo.
Check out all the brass.
Looks like feeding time at the zoo.
It's Admiral Arkadii Yakushkin from the Russian navy.
He's our new resident liaison.
- A dancing bear, huh? - Hey, they are our allies.
This week.
Let's get to work.
Badman 1, this is Red Crown.
We have an unknown contact squawking a garbled commercial airline code, bearing 350 at 45 miles.
Angels 15, low speed.
Red Crown, Badman will take it.
Badman 3, north gap is your responsibility.
X-Man is on it.
- Keep an eye on him, Skates.
- Copy that.
X-Man, we've got intermittent hydraulic-system lights.
- We better turn back.
- You need an escort home, Boomer? Negative.
Pappy, this is X-Man.
Boomer's heading home on a precautionary.
- I'm pressing on with the intercept.
- Negative.
Wait till I get there.
Tuna, join up on Boomer and escort him home.
Roger, Pappy.
Unknown contact.
Angels 15, speed, 200 knots.
- Doesn't sound like he's much fun.
- Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
- What's the problem? - Contact just went to 300 knots.
Now he's at 400.
Bandit, bandit, MiG 29.
He's running.
I am engaging.
Badman 3, this is Badman leader.
MiGs always travel in pairs.
One is all I see.
Badman 3, Red Crown.
You're at Waterloo Yellow.
Disengage.
I repeat, disengage.
No way.
Harm, I've got a second MiG bearing 045.
Closing on X-Man.
Badman 3, you've got a second MiG on your six.
He's got me locked.
He's got me locked.
I can't shake him.
I'm on him.
Take him out! Take him out! Why'd he break off? Guess he wanted to live more than he wanted you to die.
Let's go home.
It's not a video game up there, Lieutenant Buxton.
You do realise that, don't you? Yes, sir.
I was just trying to exercise initiative the way I've been taught, sir.
You weren't taught that way.
You ignored a Waterloo call.
You neglected to remember that MiGs travel in pairs.
And you most definitely would have been killed if Commander Rabb hadn't been there to save your ass.
They were playing the same game the Iraqis run in the gulf, CAG.
Drag you in with one bogey, clean you off with the other.
But the Yugoslavs have something the Iraqis didn't.
Intel tells us there's a spy plane up there.
You walked right into their trap, Buxton.
I want aggressive pilots, but you can't be all plumbing and no forehead.
In the lieutenant's defence, sir, what he did was not an error of integrity.
Oh, what was it? I'd call it more a misguided sense of urgency, sir.
Oh, it was misguided, all right.
I'm as much to blame as the lieutenant, sir.
- I was division leader.
- Then teach him judgement.
I always thought you had it.
Yes, sir.
Pay attention to the man, Buxton.
Up there in the twilight zone, judgement equals survival.
Yes, sir.
Well, I guess I'm supposed to say thanks.
You wouldn't if you knew how hard that was for me.
Well, why didn't you just tell the CAG that I'm a selfish, irresponsible glory hound if that's what you think? He already knows it.
What he knows, commander, is how damn good I am.
You see, Buxton, that is your problem.
You confuse reality with your score on the greenie board.
Actually, the greenie board is reality.
Catching the three wire is one thing, pal.
Flying smart is something else altogether.
So how come you think you know so much about me? Because I used to be you.
Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, how many of your 17 years in the Marine Corps have you spent handling weapons or instructing people in the use of them? Just about all of them, ma'am.
You're about to retire, is that correct? Yes, ma'am.
I'm taking an early out.
At present, I'm on terminal leave.
Have you begun a new job yet? I have, as training technician for the Widmark Corporation.
That's the manufacturer of the Brimstone 2000? That's correct, ma'am.
I instruct people on its use.
Which is what you did as a Marine.
So in the course of your duties with this weapon, did you ever encounter the defendant, Corporal Winrow? I supervised his instruction, ma'am.
Did he ever have any problems with the weapon? None whatsoever.
Corporal Winrow became an expert very quickly.
So unless Corporal Winrow were somehow impaired, he should have no problems with this weapon.
- Isn't that correct, gunnery sergeant? - No, ma'am.
Excuse me? What happened had nothing to do with the corporal.
The weapon is faulty.
Maybe I misunderstood you, gunnery sergeant.
But didn't you say that Corporal Winrow never previously experienced problems when firing the weapon? Yes, ma'am.
And that was when he was not hung over, correct? To the best of my knowledge, ma'am.
No further questions.
Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, I'm intrigued by your description of the Brimstone 2000 as being faulty.
Would you tell us what you mean? Basically, sir, its guidance system is unreliable in hot weather.
Explain, please.
Widmark makes all kinds of claims about the Brimstone's accuracy, but in tests it conducted privately, the weapon flew outside the range fan when the temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
They're still trying to fix the problem.
Which means what, in terms of Corporal Winrow's situation? On the morning of his mishap, we were at Black Flag, the first hot day after the weapon arrived at Quantico.
He would have set those woods on fire no matter what condition he was in.
How do you know this, sergeant? I visited Widmark's research department after hours and I found the documents.
- You entered surreptitiously? - Yes, sir.
After Corporal Winrow's problem, I got curious.
Thank you.
- That sounds very exciting.
- It's no big deal, admiral.
If you're low on fuel, you shut down one of your engines.
Of course, my RIO was a little puckered.
Weren't you, Duke? Hey, Harm.
Admiral, this is the fella I told you I helped out.
Come join us please, commander.
You must obey.
I am admiral.
Well, I never argue with rank, sir.
So I understand that you owe your life to Lieutenant Buxton here, yes? Really? Well, all I thought I owed him was a tank of gas.
You Americans.
You make joke about everything, even danger.
The admiral here is real interested in how we do things.
I'll bet he is.
Right now, sir, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of reading to do.
Harm, it looks more like you're taking up some weightlifting.
A dark day for semper fi, eh, colonel? Is there a reason you're here, commander, or did you just come by to gloat? About the surprising Gunnery Sergeant Galindez? Never.
No, I came by to ask about dinner.
You owe me one, remember? You know, your Corporal Winrow was in no condition to be firing that weapon.
The judge said it didn't matter.
What can I say? So Calisto's, is it? No, sorry.
I gotta prep the McCarthy case.
Getting a pizza delivered would be the best I could do.
- Pepperonis and black olives.
- Sausage and green peppers.
Well, we could order half and half.
I don't know, I think you're getting off cheap, colonel.
I accept.
Well, the F-18's right over it, so he keeps his nose up.
It, like, cost the Navy millions of dollars.
Why is Griggs back on the duty roster? CAG's dropping the charges against him on my recommendation.
You're letting him slide? What, were you gonna tell me about this? Yeah, I was, in private.
Well, I don't mind.
You can tell me now, sir.
- You sure about that, lieutenant? - Yes, sir.
Airman Griggs installed the pod backwards, but he wasn't the only one at fault.
Oh, I don't believe this.
Flight ops were incredibly intense that day.
The ordinance chief didn't have time to do his final inspections.
Well, terrific.
Is there anybody else you'd like to blame, commander? Yeah.
You.
I inspected the damn pod the way I was supposed to.
What did you want me to do, hook it up myself? The old wiggle-waggle wasn't gonna cut it on this pod.
If you'd read the specs, you'd have known to move it forward and backwards.
It would have fallen off at your feet.
- Oh, so now this is my fault? - Partly, yeah.
Doesn't seem fair to make Griggs shoulder the entire responsibility, does it? Griggs is not going back to work on my plane, sir.
Griggs is a good man.
He thinks you're the greatest pilot that's ever pulled a G.
- He can think whatever he wants.
- You're making another mistake.
You know, if you think Griggs is so damn great, he can be your plane captain, sir.
Fine.
He's too good to be yours.
Excuse me, sir.
X-Man.
- X-Man, hang on.
- What? You crazy, running your mouth off like that? You wanna get court-martialled? Well, why not? I've been shafted every other way they can think of.
Nobody's shafting you.
Then how come Rabb is leading my division? - Your division? - Look, Tuna.
Your roommate will do anything he can to bury me, because he knows he can't outfly me.
Give it a rest, Buxton.
- You don't think I'm the best? - I didn't say that.
- But that's what you were thinking.
- Call yourself the best all you want.
- There's no way you'll ever prove it.
- Oh, yeah? Well, you just watch me the next time I'm up.
Let's just skip over the part where you say I didn't ask the right question.
That's fine with me, ma'am.
Why did you wait until you were on the stand to deliver the bad news? It's nothing personal, ma'am, but I didn't know if I could trust you.
Something about my shifty eyes, Gunny? Or are you just suspicious of officers in general? That's a negative to the first part of your question, colonel.
As for the second part, it looked like you were buying the company line.
I didn't know if you wanted a conviction or the truth.
If I didn't care about the truth, Gunny, you wouldn't be here.
Yes, ma'am.
I'm aware of that.
Obviously, the truth is important to you too, or you wouldn't have put yourself out of that cushy civilian job you lined up.
Well, you know what they say, ma'am.
Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
I'll find somebody else to work for.
How about lawyers? - What kind of lawyers, colonel? - JAG lawyers.
Of course, you'd have to pass up that early retirement.
What exactly did you have in mind, ma'am? We're looking for someone to run the office.
Colonel, I'm not a clerk.
No, I doubt anyone would mistake you for one, Gunny.
- But you were a policeman, right? - Yes, ma'am.
Deputy sheriff back home in New Mexico.
Did it for three years after my first enlistment, then came back in the Marine Corps as a retread.
You might be able to help us out with investigations.
When I'm not counting paperclips, ma'am? That's right, Gunny.
When you're not counting paperclips.
The war crimes commission has received reports of possible mass gravesites at Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.
So in addition to your normal patrols, we wanna fly low and take pictures.
Maybe help put these butchers in jail.
- How do you wanna handle it, Harm? - Two and two, CAG.
Two TARPS-configured aircraft with cameras, two armed escorts.
Fine.
One other wrinkle: Our snooper is back.
A Lear flying under an international flag, supposedly from a news agency.
Our surveillance says it is carrying a telescope that is gyro-stabilised and radar-guided.
Any of you seeing Peeping Tom out there are advised to smudge his windows.
Time for target practise.
Can I help you, admiral? I was just being curious to see how our good allies operate in such sensitive times.
- Please continue.
- We're just wrapping things up, sir.
Unless Lieutenant Buxton feels the need to hear the rules of engagement one more time.
Not necessary, CAG.
- Are you sure of that? - Yes, sir.
Very well.
Let's fly.
Mantel repair crew, make ready to cease operations until further notice.
Mantel repair crew-- I hope your will's in order, commander.
Everything squared away? Standing tall, sir.
I've got your power and alignment cables hooked up so you can inspect them.
- You do good work, Griggs.
- Your plane's got my name on it, sir.
Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, it says here that you did some boxing.
Closer inspection of my nose would confirm that, sir.
Is your nose any indication on how you did? I held my own, sir.
Especially when I was fighting SEALs.
At ease, Gunny.
Well, I can think of one you might have some trouble with.
Now that you've established a common interest, admiral, I was hoping you'd be intrigued by the breadth of the gunnery sergeant's experience.
Primary MOS, infantry.
Secondary MOS, criminal investigation.
Gunny at the basic school the past 18 months.
So why'd you leave the sheriff's department and return to active duty? I was shot, sir.
Go on.
We were busting a meth lab outside Albuquerque.
Things got a little hairy with the biker who ran the place, and one of our guys panicked.
He put a bullet in my rear end.
One of your guys? That's why I came back to the Marine Corps, sir.
Better breed of people.
Navy too? I wouldn't know, sir.
Well, there are Navy personnel in this office.
If you're gonna be the gunny here, you're gonna have to deal with them.
If I'm gonna be the gunny here, they're gonna have to deal with me.
Badman 1, this is Red Crown.
Peeping Tom bearing 025 at 65 miles.
- Inbound mother.
- Got him.
We have a contact.
Red Crown, Badman 1.
Contact.
We'll take it from here.
Badman 3, Tuna and I are going hunting.
The photo mission is yours.
Bring Boomer home in one piece, huh? You know I will.
- Tuna, combat spread.
Cover my six.
- Roger.
- Nothing visual yet, Skates.
- Check right ten degrees.
Ten miles.
Eight miles.
Start your turn now.
Tallyho.
Tom's in sight.
Let's go say hello.
Knock, knock, knock.
- I think he's ignoring us.
- Four-six-four-Charlie-Lima, be advised we are conducting hazardous flight activities.
You are standing into danger.
Turn north immediately.
- Maybe he's deaf.
- Find out if he's blind too.
Looks like he's gonna hang in there.
Him and a telescope that can see for a hundred miles.
Okay, we do this the hard way.
Fuel dump.
All right.
Think he'll make it back to wherever he came from? Well, yeah, and he'll stay there a while too.
Red Crown, Badman 1.
Say goodbye to Peeping Tom.
Red Crown copies.
Bravo Zulu, Badman 1.
Roger.
Switching back to recon frequency.
Badman 3, Badman 1.
Requesting mission status.
Pappy, I've got a pop-up.
Armoured vehicles converging on inbound refugees.
Suspect refugees in danger.
Badman 3, if you haven't been shot at, the photo bird is clear.
Recommend disengage.
I can't.
They're going after those refugees.
Tuna, close formation.
- Smoked them good, Boomer.
- Oh, you are the man, X.
Plus you get all the luck.
Is this the man? - Is this the man? - Something wrong, CAG? Lieutenant Buxton, did you attack vehicles on the highway east of Zlata? Yes, sir.
Serb armour about to cut off a group of refugees, sir.
Those Serbs, Lieutenant Buxton, were Russian peacekeepers.
You killed three of their senior officers.
We have a pop-up on the surface, bearing 250 at seven miles.
Request you investigate.
Red Crown, Badman 1 is on it.
- Cameras ready? - Just point and shoot.
Smile for the birdie.
- What was that? - Bird strike in the port engine.
I'm shutting it down.
We're losing fuel.
Gas pump, this is Badman 1 declaring an emergency.
Port engine is shut down.
We're losing fuel and request priority.
Badman 1, be advised we have only 1.
5 to give and X-Man is at the pump.
X-Man's breaking off.
Tanker's all yours, Pappy.
Don't cut your fuel short, X-Man.
We can share and wait for the next tanker up.
You take it all, Pappy.
You're leaking like my '65 Mustang.
Thanks, X-Man.
If you're low on fuel, don't wait around for me, X-Man.
It's okay, Pappy.
I'm good to the boat.
Badman, this is War Paint strike.
Dirty up in three miles and shift to Paddles.
War Paint, Paddles, this is Badman.
Gear down.
Single-engine approach, ball manual, 0.
5.
--on flight deck.
Damaged airplane in the groove.
All unnecessary personnel clear the flight area.
Paddles, get him on the first pass.
He'll never make it around for a second.
Badman 1, ball.
Roger, ball.
You're a little low, a little low.
You're below the glide path.
Pick it up.
Pick it up! Power, power! - Badman 1, ball.
- Roger, ball.
You're a little low, a little low.
You're below the glide path.
Pick it up.
Pick it up! Power, power! Badman 2, take it around one more time.
Checking bird in landing area.
This is Badman 2.
Can't do it, boss.
I'm sucking on fumes.
Get that Tomcat out of here.
We got another bird with bingo fuel.
Clear the deck! Badman 2, ball.
God, he just lost the port engine.
Hard landing.
Check the port main mount for that Tomcat.
Give me a good post-flight, Griggsy.
Right away, sir.
- Thrill a minute up there, Pappy.
- You all right? That wasn't exactly your classic X-Man trap.
The sun got in my eyes.
Really? I thought it was that port engine you lost.
Did I lose an engine? Yeah.
That's what happens when you run out of fuel.
Aren't you the best little guy? Aren't you, A.
J.
? Aren't you the best little guy? He'd be better than the best if he spent his nights sleeping instead of testing his lungs all night.
Cheer up, mate.
Maybe your midnight warbler will be the next Mick Jagger.
Is that a new recruit I see? Oh, colonel.
Congratulations on your promotion.
- Thank you.
- Wanna hold him? - There we go.
- Hello, sailor.
You must be why girls go for a man in uniform.
I'm sorry I missed your wetting down, but A.
J.
Had the croup.
Well, being a mom comes first.
Lieutenant Sims.
Maybe you know where the file is for the last command inspection.
Yes, sir.
Right over here, sir.
At least it's supposed to be right here, sir.
I'm sure I put it there.
Unless I filed it under C.
Well, Tiner, maybe you should look for it.
- Yes, sir.
- It's supposed to be right here.
What is your weekly schedule doing with the special-request chits? I was wondering where that was.
You know, lieutenant, since you've been on reserve duty, this office is a bigger mess than a sack full of damn cats.
It's good to see that somebody's squared away.
All right, my friend, the time has come.
Are you ready? Give me what you got.
- No.
- Heads up, everybody.
Behold, the first turd on X-Man's record.
Can you believe it? After all those greens, we're talking 14 in a row.
The greatest streak since DiMaggio, and suddenly, splat, the king of the greenie board, the master of the three wire, an alien if there ever was one, steps in the same sorry stuff as the rest of us.
That is impressive.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just think, if I snag the one wire 10 more times, I'd be even with the rest of you sluggers.
Hey, Buxton, take another look at the greenie board.
Someone's gaining on you.
Oh, you mean the senior citizen I helped across the street today.
Six straight greens.
Six straight happy landings.
He still won't catch the uncatchable me.
Attention on deck.
As you were, people.
Before I start this briefing, Buxton, what were you trying to prove today? That you're good to the last drop? No, sir.
I was just trying to help Commander Rabb, sir.
My bird ate too much seagull, CAG.
- The X-Man saved my six.
- And damn near lost his.
Next time, you both take on some fuel then wait for the next gas station.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- Aye, aye, sir.
I know Commander Imes is trying a court-martial in Pensacola.
So why does the watch bill say that she's on duty this weekend? - There must be a mistake, sir.
- And it's not the only one, Tiner.
I can't seem to find Commander Mattoni's name on here anywhere.
I believe that's because he's on leave, sir.
I know that, Tiner.
But for the whole damn month? Now it seems Lieutenant Sims has disappeared.
Actually, she's changing A.
J.
- The baby, sir.
- A perfect metaphor for the moment.
You know, lieutenant, I wish we'd have cloned your wife.
She obviously did a hell of a lot more around this office than raid the refrigerator when she was pregnant.
Hey, you two are catching cases, right? No, sir.
We have a plea-bargaining session on the Winrow case.
If my client doesn't like Colonel MacKenzie's counteroffer, the court-martial starts tomorrow.
It's supposed to be on the docket, sir.
Is something wrong, admiral? No.
No, nothing that couldn't be fixed by a good, old-fashioned lobotomy.
Tiner.
Two years in the brig, or six months.
Which sounds better to you, Corporal Winrow? - Neither one, ma'am.
- Well, from where I'm sitting, those look like the only choices you're gonna get.
But I know how to fire the Brimstone 2000, ma'am.
When you're sober.
I had some drinks the night before, yes, ma'am.
But I got my sleep.
Not enough to keep you from missing your target and burning down 227 acres of woods at Quantico.
That's not what the Marine Corps expects from its weapons instructors.
I'm aware of that, ma'am.
I just don't understand how it happened.
Commander, can you make your client listen to reason? Put yourself in his shoes, colonel.
Even with a lesser sentence, he's still facing a bad-conduct discharge.
He shouldn't expect anything else after what he did.
Give us a minute.
- Do you wanna reconsider? - No, sir.
We'll fight it.
Colonel, you never told me how you celebrated your promotion.
Privately.
Well, if you ever wanna go public, I'll be honoured to take you to dinner.
Don't you have a court-martial to lose? Begging your pardon, ma'am, but I believe you're being a tad overconfident.
Mic, your chances would be better defending Mrs.
O'Leary's cow.
The Great Chicago Fire.
The cow wouldn't have looked so bad if the fire engine had gone to the right address.
Oh, thanks for enlightening me.
Okay.
So you wouldn't care to have a wager on Corporal Winrow's fate, would you? Oh, let me guess.
Loser buys dinner? Great minds think alike.
Not if you think we're gonna call it a date.
All SDOs report to PRIFLY to see the air boss.
I'm quoting from the rules of engagement: "Elements of Command Battle Group 63 may exercise proportional force only in order to disengage from units demonstrating hostile intent or committing hostile acts, and only for the duration of the hostile acts.
The battle group will pass request for use of force to the NATO force commander.
" Yeah, and if I have to scratch my six, do I need to phone the president? Lock it up, lieutenant.
Obviously, these rules of engagement are somewhat restrictive.
But we're facing a difficult situation here trying to keep the Yugoslavians in line without antagonising any of our allies.
Especially the Russians.
Now, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Yeah, I was just wondering, since you are the gentleman from Fleet JAG, if you would be so kind as to give us a translation.
I thought I just did that.
So if I get locked on by a MiG, I can shoot then? When hostile intent is perceived, you are permitted to exercise only a proportional response while asking for guidance from a higher authority.
Help me, Lord.
But if they fire a missile, we can rap their knuckles? Firing a missile is clearly a hostile act.
So, what, we're just meat on the table until then? Is that what you're telling us? Attention on deck.
Thank you, Lieutenant Aldridge.
- That'll be all.
- Aye, sir.
Take your seats.
Moan and groan all you like.
What you just heard is the letter of the law.
But if a MiG is manoeuvring to your six, you will see a missile come off its rails before they have a chance to fire one.
Harm, you're our resident lawyer.
Any problem with that? It's always a judgement call, CAG, but a MiG wouldn't be there to send you flowers.
So is that a yes or a no? We're the good guys, X-Man.
We didn't get that way by firing first.
Whose side are you on anyway? Ours or that legal weenie's? His designator is the same as yours, X-Man.
That ought to be answer enough for you.
All right.
There are no changes in our boundaries.
Waterloo Yellow remains 42 kilometres.
Waterloo Red is still 20 kilometres.
You go past Red, you are violating the rules of engagement.
Commander Sanders has been designated to take the reconnaissance package in.
Schmidt, you're search and rescue.
Suppression of enemy air defence is Papadakis.
Carlson, you're the tanker king.
Flight leader, Division 1.
Harm, I'd like you to take over from Lieutenant Buxton.
- Aye, aye, sir.
- All right, let's go fly.
Corporal Jennings, that depth charge you're talking about, it isn't used to blow up submarines, is it? No, ma'am.
It's a drink.
A little more specific, please.
Well, first you have a mug of beer, see, and then you have a shot glass full of Well, I don't know, me and Winnie-- Corporal Winrow.
--We went with bourbon.
Then you drop the shot glass in the mug of beer and-- And voilà, a depth charge.
How many of these concoctions did Corporal Winrow drink that night in the Boom Boom Room? Objection.
The government has established the witness was drinking.
That hardly qualifies him as someone capable of counting drinks.
I'll treat it as an informed estimate, Commander Brumby.
Overruled.
Go ahead, corporal.
Well, we were there from 9 until they closed at 2, ma'am.
Probably a drink an hour, maybe two once or twice.
I mean, our buddy had orders for Pendleton.
We wanted to send him off right.
I'm sure you did.
No further questions.
Corporal Jennings, you're a weapons instructor at the basic school with Corporal Winrow, is that correct? Yes, sir.
I've worked with him the past 10 months, sir.
And what is our opinion of him as a Marine, not a drinker? Well, sir, Corporal Winrow is the best, sir.
He cares most about the men we train, puts in the longest hours, performs better on all the tests than the rest of us combined, sir.
I mean, he's hardcore, sir.
Thank you.
Tensions continue to fester in Kosovo despite the supposed cessation of hostilities.
NATO sources are reporting increased activity by rogue factions of the Serb army, who continue to terrorise returning refugees in border areas.
Meanwhile, there are more and more indications that much of the Yugoslav air force survived last spring's bombing.
Ranking members of the U.
S.
Military say that Yugoslav fighter squadrons possess enough Russian-made MiGs to cause, quote: "Significant mischief in the no-fly zone.
" Makes you wonder how Commander Rabb is doing, doesn't it? Well, lieutenant, I try to look at the big picture.
The problems of one person not amounting to a hill of beans and all that, but yes, the commander does cross my mind now and then.
Living his dreams, set free from the courtroom, unshackled from his desk and the mountains of paperwork that plagued him.
It could be worse, Harm.
You could be trying to sleep on all these files you put up here.
Oh, I'm sorry, Tuna.
I thought I put everything back.
How could you tell? What are you writing now, the sequel to Moby Dick? A letter to a computer company that's trying to harpoon one of our troopers for a modem he's already paid for.
Unhappy with your collateral duty, Commander Rabb? I've got an opening for a substance-abuse control officer if you'd rather watch aviators pee.
Not really my field of expertise, sir.
I guess you're stuck being the wing legal officer.
Here.
It'll be a while before I get to this, CAG.
Put it on top.
Buxton brought charges against his plane captain.
Gentlemen.
Flight deck move out 142 and 200.
Nobody feels worse about what happened than I do, sir.
Well, an apology isn't gonna help your case any, Airman Griggs.
It was a $90,000 piece of equipment that dropped off this aircraft.
Yes, sir.
But you've got to understand, I got the Navy in my blood, sir.
Just like my father and my grandfather.
And the only place I wanna be is on that flight deck, and working on Lieutenant Buxton's Tomcat.
He's the best, you know, sir? Well, that's the general consensus.
You wanna tell me what happened? There was a new pod, sir.
An infrared sensor unit.
We hooked it onto the lieutenant's wing and then I signed off on the job.
But that was the first time I'd ever seen one of those things, sir.
That's unfortunate, but it doesn't relieve you of responsibility.
Get the training, learn the equipment.
It'd be great if it really worked that way, sir.
But we're undermanned, and I never got the training.
You did receive a manual instructing you how to install the pod, didn't you? - Yes, sir, I did.
- Do you still have it? I can find it for you, sir.
But there's one thing that manual won't tell you.
The pod's a murphy.
It slides on the right way, but, oh, yeah, it slides on backwards too.
So what? It's his job to know which way is up.
You checked the pod yourself on pre-flight? Just like the checklist says, commander.
You didn't notice any problem? The X-Man does not have x-ray vision.
Well, I'll make a note of that.
Yeah, there wasn't anything funny when that pod fell off.
I just launched and I was making my clearing turn.
Losing that store disrupted airflow over the horizontal tail.
I was below flight-deck level, skimming the water.
The air boss was yelling "eject.
" You didn't eject.
That's because I'm an above-average aviator, sir.
If I wasn't, that kid would be up on murder charges.
So do your job, commander.
Mr.
Tennyson, when you say your company builds the Brimstone 2000 to be used under less-than-optimum conditions, what are you referring to? Combat, of course.
A weapon may have to take a beating to give a beating.
That's what I always say.
Did the Widmark Corporation test the Brimstone 2000 under such conditions? Absolutely, colonel.
There's never been a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon as light and powerful.
We made sure it was as good as we told everybody it was.
Did any of your tests involve having the weapon fired by someone who'd been drinking heavily a few hours before? - Objection.
- Overruled.
You may answer the question, Mr.
Tennyson.
No, colonel.
No one who was inebriated has ever tested the Brimstone 2000.
Would you ever let anyone who was inebriated fire the weapon? No.
Never.
Thank you.
Mr.
Tennyson, how many weapons has your company developed over the past ten years? A dozen, maybe more.
And in testing these weapons, have any of them ever gone off course? During testing? Yes.
And when that happened, was it because the operators were drunk? - No.
- Thank you.
One last question, Mr.
Tennyson.
Since it became operational, have there been any other mishaps with the Brimstone 2000? No.
None at all.
Cheer up, Mic.
It's almost over.
- Is that your final witness? - Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez.
The Marines' own expert on the Brimstone 2000.
I'll prep him, put him on the stand, and how does Calisto sound for that dinner you're gonna owe me? - Pricey.
- Perfect.
Deck crew, prepare to receive helo.
Deck crew, prepare to receive helo.
Check out all the brass.
Looks like feeding time at the zoo.
It's Admiral Arkadii Yakushkin from the Russian navy.
He's our new resident liaison.
- A dancing bear, huh? - Hey, they are our allies.
This week.
Let's get to work.
Badman 1, this is Red Crown.
We have an unknown contact squawking a garbled commercial airline code, bearing 350 at 45 miles.
Angels 15, low speed.
Red Crown, Badman will take it.
Badman 3, north gap is your responsibility.
X-Man is on it.
- Keep an eye on him, Skates.
- Copy that.
X-Man, we've got intermittent hydraulic-system lights.
- We better turn back.
- You need an escort home, Boomer? Negative.
Pappy, this is X-Man.
Boomer's heading home on a precautionary.
- I'm pressing on with the intercept.
- Negative.
Wait till I get there.
Tuna, join up on Boomer and escort him home.
Roger, Pappy.
Unknown contact.
Angels 15, speed, 200 knots.
- Doesn't sound like he's much fun.
- Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
- What's the problem? - Contact just went to 300 knots.
Now he's at 400.
Bandit, bandit, MiG 29.
He's running.
I am engaging.
Badman 3, this is Badman leader.
MiGs always travel in pairs.
One is all I see.
Badman 3, Red Crown.
You're at Waterloo Yellow.
Disengage.
I repeat, disengage.
No way.
Harm, I've got a second MiG bearing 045.
Closing on X-Man.
Badman 3, you've got a second MiG on your six.
He's got me locked.
He's got me locked.
I can't shake him.
I'm on him.
Take him out! Take him out! Why'd he break off? Guess he wanted to live more than he wanted you to die.
Let's go home.
It's not a video game up there, Lieutenant Buxton.
You do realise that, don't you? Yes, sir.
I was just trying to exercise initiative the way I've been taught, sir.
You weren't taught that way.
You ignored a Waterloo call.
You neglected to remember that MiGs travel in pairs.
And you most definitely would have been killed if Commander Rabb hadn't been there to save your ass.
They were playing the same game the Iraqis run in the gulf, CAG.
Drag you in with one bogey, clean you off with the other.
But the Yugoslavs have something the Iraqis didn't.
Intel tells us there's a spy plane up there.
You walked right into their trap, Buxton.
I want aggressive pilots, but you can't be all plumbing and no forehead.
In the lieutenant's defence, sir, what he did was not an error of integrity.
Oh, what was it? I'd call it more a misguided sense of urgency, sir.
Oh, it was misguided, all right.
I'm as much to blame as the lieutenant, sir.
- I was division leader.
- Then teach him judgement.
I always thought you had it.
Yes, sir.
Pay attention to the man, Buxton.
Up there in the twilight zone, judgement equals survival.
Yes, sir.
Well, I guess I'm supposed to say thanks.
You wouldn't if you knew how hard that was for me.
Well, why didn't you just tell the CAG that I'm a selfish, irresponsible glory hound if that's what you think? He already knows it.
What he knows, commander, is how damn good I am.
You see, Buxton, that is your problem.
You confuse reality with your score on the greenie board.
Actually, the greenie board is reality.
Catching the three wire is one thing, pal.
Flying smart is something else altogether.
So how come you think you know so much about me? Because I used to be you.
Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, how many of your 17 years in the Marine Corps have you spent handling weapons or instructing people in the use of them? Just about all of them, ma'am.
You're about to retire, is that correct? Yes, ma'am.
I'm taking an early out.
At present, I'm on terminal leave.
Have you begun a new job yet? I have, as training technician for the Widmark Corporation.
That's the manufacturer of the Brimstone 2000? That's correct, ma'am.
I instruct people on its use.
Which is what you did as a Marine.
So in the course of your duties with this weapon, did you ever encounter the defendant, Corporal Winrow? I supervised his instruction, ma'am.
Did he ever have any problems with the weapon? None whatsoever.
Corporal Winrow became an expert very quickly.
So unless Corporal Winrow were somehow impaired, he should have no problems with this weapon.
- Isn't that correct, gunnery sergeant? - No, ma'am.
Excuse me? What happened had nothing to do with the corporal.
The weapon is faulty.
Maybe I misunderstood you, gunnery sergeant.
But didn't you say that Corporal Winrow never previously experienced problems when firing the weapon? Yes, ma'am.
And that was when he was not hung over, correct? To the best of my knowledge, ma'am.
No further questions.
Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, I'm intrigued by your description of the Brimstone 2000 as being faulty.
Would you tell us what you mean? Basically, sir, its guidance system is unreliable in hot weather.
Explain, please.
Widmark makes all kinds of claims about the Brimstone's accuracy, but in tests it conducted privately, the weapon flew outside the range fan when the temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
They're still trying to fix the problem.
Which means what, in terms of Corporal Winrow's situation? On the morning of his mishap, we were at Black Flag, the first hot day after the weapon arrived at Quantico.
He would have set those woods on fire no matter what condition he was in.
How do you know this, sergeant? I visited Widmark's research department after hours and I found the documents.
- You entered surreptitiously? - Yes, sir.
After Corporal Winrow's problem, I got curious.
Thank you.
- That sounds very exciting.
- It's no big deal, admiral.
If you're low on fuel, you shut down one of your engines.
Of course, my RIO was a little puckered.
Weren't you, Duke? Hey, Harm.
Admiral, this is the fella I told you I helped out.
Come join us please, commander.
You must obey.
I am admiral.
Well, I never argue with rank, sir.
So I understand that you owe your life to Lieutenant Buxton here, yes? Really? Well, all I thought I owed him was a tank of gas.
You Americans.
You make joke about everything, even danger.
The admiral here is real interested in how we do things.
I'll bet he is.
Right now, sir, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of reading to do.
Harm, it looks more like you're taking up some weightlifting.
A dark day for semper fi, eh, colonel? Is there a reason you're here, commander, or did you just come by to gloat? About the surprising Gunnery Sergeant Galindez? Never.
No, I came by to ask about dinner.
You owe me one, remember? You know, your Corporal Winrow was in no condition to be firing that weapon.
The judge said it didn't matter.
What can I say? So Calisto's, is it? No, sorry.
I gotta prep the McCarthy case.
Getting a pizza delivered would be the best I could do.
- Pepperonis and black olives.
- Sausage and green peppers.
Well, we could order half and half.
I don't know, I think you're getting off cheap, colonel.
I accept.
Well, the F-18's right over it, so he keeps his nose up.
It, like, cost the Navy millions of dollars.
Why is Griggs back on the duty roster? CAG's dropping the charges against him on my recommendation.
You're letting him slide? What, were you gonna tell me about this? Yeah, I was, in private.
Well, I don't mind.
You can tell me now, sir.
- You sure about that, lieutenant? - Yes, sir.
Airman Griggs installed the pod backwards, but he wasn't the only one at fault.
Oh, I don't believe this.
Flight ops were incredibly intense that day.
The ordinance chief didn't have time to do his final inspections.
Well, terrific.
Is there anybody else you'd like to blame, commander? Yeah.
You.
I inspected the damn pod the way I was supposed to.
What did you want me to do, hook it up myself? The old wiggle-waggle wasn't gonna cut it on this pod.
If you'd read the specs, you'd have known to move it forward and backwards.
It would have fallen off at your feet.
- Oh, so now this is my fault? - Partly, yeah.
Doesn't seem fair to make Griggs shoulder the entire responsibility, does it? Griggs is not going back to work on my plane, sir.
Griggs is a good man.
He thinks you're the greatest pilot that's ever pulled a G.
- He can think whatever he wants.
- You're making another mistake.
You know, if you think Griggs is so damn great, he can be your plane captain, sir.
Fine.
He's too good to be yours.
Excuse me, sir.
X-Man.
- X-Man, hang on.
- What? You crazy, running your mouth off like that? You wanna get court-martialled? Well, why not? I've been shafted every other way they can think of.
Nobody's shafting you.
Then how come Rabb is leading my division? - Your division? - Look, Tuna.
Your roommate will do anything he can to bury me, because he knows he can't outfly me.
Give it a rest, Buxton.
- You don't think I'm the best? - I didn't say that.
- But that's what you were thinking.
- Call yourself the best all you want.
- There's no way you'll ever prove it.
- Oh, yeah? Well, you just watch me the next time I'm up.
Let's just skip over the part where you say I didn't ask the right question.
That's fine with me, ma'am.
Why did you wait until you were on the stand to deliver the bad news? It's nothing personal, ma'am, but I didn't know if I could trust you.
Something about my shifty eyes, Gunny? Or are you just suspicious of officers in general? That's a negative to the first part of your question, colonel.
As for the second part, it looked like you were buying the company line.
I didn't know if you wanted a conviction or the truth.
If I didn't care about the truth, Gunny, you wouldn't be here.
Yes, ma'am.
I'm aware of that.
Obviously, the truth is important to you too, or you wouldn't have put yourself out of that cushy civilian job you lined up.
Well, you know what they say, ma'am.
Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
I'll find somebody else to work for.
How about lawyers? - What kind of lawyers, colonel? - JAG lawyers.
Of course, you'd have to pass up that early retirement.
What exactly did you have in mind, ma'am? We're looking for someone to run the office.
Colonel, I'm not a clerk.
No, I doubt anyone would mistake you for one, Gunny.
- But you were a policeman, right? - Yes, ma'am.
Deputy sheriff back home in New Mexico.
Did it for three years after my first enlistment, then came back in the Marine Corps as a retread.
You might be able to help us out with investigations.
When I'm not counting paperclips, ma'am? That's right, Gunny.
When you're not counting paperclips.
The war crimes commission has received reports of possible mass gravesites at Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.
So in addition to your normal patrols, we wanna fly low and take pictures.
Maybe help put these butchers in jail.
- How do you wanna handle it, Harm? - Two and two, CAG.
Two TARPS-configured aircraft with cameras, two armed escorts.
Fine.
One other wrinkle: Our snooper is back.
A Lear flying under an international flag, supposedly from a news agency.
Our surveillance says it is carrying a telescope that is gyro-stabilised and radar-guided.
Any of you seeing Peeping Tom out there are advised to smudge his windows.
Time for target practise.
Can I help you, admiral? I was just being curious to see how our good allies operate in such sensitive times.
- Please continue.
- We're just wrapping things up, sir.
Unless Lieutenant Buxton feels the need to hear the rules of engagement one more time.
Not necessary, CAG.
- Are you sure of that? - Yes, sir.
Very well.
Let's fly.
Mantel repair crew, make ready to cease operations until further notice.
Mantel repair crew-- I hope your will's in order, commander.
Everything squared away? Standing tall, sir.
I've got your power and alignment cables hooked up so you can inspect them.
- You do good work, Griggs.
- Your plane's got my name on it, sir.
Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, it says here that you did some boxing.
Closer inspection of my nose would confirm that, sir.
Is your nose any indication on how you did? I held my own, sir.
Especially when I was fighting SEALs.
At ease, Gunny.
Well, I can think of one you might have some trouble with.
Now that you've established a common interest, admiral, I was hoping you'd be intrigued by the breadth of the gunnery sergeant's experience.
Primary MOS, infantry.
Secondary MOS, criminal investigation.
Gunny at the basic school the past 18 months.
So why'd you leave the sheriff's department and return to active duty? I was shot, sir.
Go on.
We were busting a meth lab outside Albuquerque.
Things got a little hairy with the biker who ran the place, and one of our guys panicked.
He put a bullet in my rear end.
One of your guys? That's why I came back to the Marine Corps, sir.
Better breed of people.
Navy too? I wouldn't know, sir.
Well, there are Navy personnel in this office.
If you're gonna be the gunny here, you're gonna have to deal with them.
If I'm gonna be the gunny here, they're gonna have to deal with me.
Badman 1, this is Red Crown.
Peeping Tom bearing 025 at 65 miles.
- Inbound mother.
- Got him.
We have a contact.
Red Crown, Badman 1.
Contact.
We'll take it from here.
Badman 3, Tuna and I are going hunting.
The photo mission is yours.
Bring Boomer home in one piece, huh? You know I will.
- Tuna, combat spread.
Cover my six.
- Roger.
- Nothing visual yet, Skates.
- Check right ten degrees.
Ten miles.
Eight miles.
Start your turn now.
Tallyho.
Tom's in sight.
Let's go say hello.
Knock, knock, knock.
- I think he's ignoring us.
- Four-six-four-Charlie-Lima, be advised we are conducting hazardous flight activities.
You are standing into danger.
Turn north immediately.
- Maybe he's deaf.
- Find out if he's blind too.
Looks like he's gonna hang in there.
Him and a telescope that can see for a hundred miles.
Okay, we do this the hard way.
Fuel dump.
All right.
Think he'll make it back to wherever he came from? Well, yeah, and he'll stay there a while too.
Red Crown, Badman 1.
Say goodbye to Peeping Tom.
Red Crown copies.
Bravo Zulu, Badman 1.
Roger.
Switching back to recon frequency.
Badman 3, Badman 1.
Requesting mission status.
Pappy, I've got a pop-up.
Armoured vehicles converging on inbound refugees.
Suspect refugees in danger.
Badman 3, if you haven't been shot at, the photo bird is clear.
Recommend disengage.
I can't.
They're going after those refugees.
Tuna, close formation.
- Smoked them good, Boomer.
- Oh, you are the man, X.
Plus you get all the luck.
Is this the man? - Is this the man? - Something wrong, CAG? Lieutenant Buxton, did you attack vehicles on the highway east of Zlata? Yes, sir.
Serb armour about to cut off a group of refugees, sir.
Those Serbs, Lieutenant Buxton, were Russian peacekeepers.
You killed three of their senior officers.