| Subject: Go Navy Blue |
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Grandma JAG
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Date Posted: 14:56:06 11/03/02 Sun
Title: Go Navy Blue
Author: Grandma JAG
Rating: G
Summary: Harm and Mac take an assignment to teach a seminar at the Naval Academy for six weeks.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Belisarius Productions, except for the ones I created for this story. No copywright infringement intended.
Chapter 1
Jag Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
0900 hours
Harm stifled a yawn as he exited the elevator and entered the bullpen. Mac looked up from the file cabinet and smiled at her partner.
“Hectic weekend, Commander?” she teased.
“It was pretty boring, actually,” Harm responded. “I just haven’t slept well since we returned from the Seahawk. Have you talked to Harriet yet?”
“I watched little A.J. for her while she was at the hospital yesterday,” Mac replied. “I’m really worried about her.”
“Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t complain about not sleeping well. Lord knows how little sleep she’s getting.” Harm was frustrated that here was a situation that he couldn’t control. “I wish I could do more to help them!”
“Harm, you’ve been at the hospital nearly every day since we got back, you’ve taken care of the things that have needed fixing around their apartment, you helped with the paper work on their house, what more could you possibly do? I know you would love to be able to turn back time so that this never happened, but this is just something we’re all going to have to deal with.” Mac took a deep breath at the end of her speech and looked at her forlorn partner who was speechless after her oration. “I know---I’ve been doing the same thing-- not sleeping, wanting to do more, wishing I could make it all go away-----” Suddenly tears came to her eyes.
Harm reached out his hand and touched her arm. “You’re a good friend to Harriet, Mac. As much as we want to do more, you’re right----we all have to deal with this in our own way, I guess.”
Just then, Tiner walked into the bullpen and stood at attention before Harm and Mac. “Sir, Ma’am, the Admiral would like to see you both in his office.”
Harm and Mac looked at each other. “I wonder what this could be about,” wondered Harm, out loud. Together they walked into the Admiral’s office.
Sitting in one of the chairs was a JAG officer that they recognized from when they had gone out to the Patrick Henry to review the rules of engagement with all the judge advocates. He stood as they entered the room.
The Admiral addressed his two senior officers. “Commander, Colonel, this is Lt. Comm. Wolf. He will be working with us temporarily to ease our load until Lt. Roberts’s status is determined. I’m also getting some additional clerical help so that Lt. Sims can have as much leave as she needs.” He turned to Commander Wolf. “That will be all for now, Commander. Tiner will show you to your office.”
“Aye, sir,” Commander Wolf saluted and then exited the office.
“Sir, now that the Commander and I are back, we should be able to take on as much as you need without having to bring in another person,” Mac knew how much the Admiral hated to train a new person.
“Are you questioning my decision making, Colonel?” the Admiral barked.
“No sir, it’s just that I know......” Mac was interrupted by the Admiral who said, “Besides, I need you and the Commander to go away again.”
Both Mac and Harm tried hard to conceal their surprise at being asked to leave so soon after returning from such a stressful mission. And with Bud in the hospital, surely they weren’t going to be sent overseas again so soon?
“Relax, you’re not going overseas,” the Admiral said, as if reading their thoughts. “Actually, this should be very non-stressful, even fun. I’ve been asked to send two officers up to Annapolis to conduct a six week seminar on military law at the academy. You will need to cover things such as the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Navy Directives, the Manual for Courts-Martial, and so on. You know the drill.”
“But, sir, Annapolis is more than an hour commute each way,” Harm noted.
“I’m aware of that, Commander.” The Admiral glared at his officer. “That’s why I’ve arranged quarters for you and the Colonel to share.” At the raised eyebrows of both his senior officers, the Admiral resisted the urge to chuckle. “As you know, Commander, there are houses on the Academy grounds for officers on the faculty there. Pretty decent facilities, as I recall. Well, there’s one that is vacant, and available for you and the Colonel to use while you are conducting the seminar. Two bedrooms, each with a private bath, on opposite ends of the house, separated by a living room and kitchen. Fully furnished--all you need are your personal items. Sound all right to you?” The Admiral looked up through his glasses at Harm and Mac. What could they say?
“Sounds---uh----perfect, sir,” Mac stumbled. Six weeks under the same roof with Harm? How was she going to be able to do this?
“That will do fine, sir,” commented Harm. He wondered if their newly rekindled friendship could endure this assignment. ‘Well, we’ll either love each other, or hate each other after this’, he thought to himself.
“Good,” responded the Admiral. “Now I suggest you both spend the day in the library deciding how you are going to present the material to the midshipmen. They are expecting you tomorrow, which will give you the weekend to get settled in your quarters, and then your seminar will begin first thing Monday morning. Any questions?”
“No, sir, I think that about covers it,” replied Harm.
“Very well, then. You are dismissed.” The Admiral waved them off as he pretended to be preoccupied with some papers on his desk.
“Aye, aye, sir.” Harm and Mac snapped to attention and pivoted around to retreat out the door of the Admiral’s office. As they left, the Admiral finally let loose the chuckle he had been suppressing painfully.
‘We’ll see how this pans out,’ he thought to himself. ‘If they can’t get it together after six weeks under the same roof, then there is no hope for them!’
#
JAG Headquarters Library
1230 hours
Mac groaned as she rubbed the back of her neck. The piles of books on the table were more than she had used in her entire career! She gasped as Harm came out from behind the shelves with another stack.
“Harm, this is a six week seminar, not six months!” she exclaimed.
“There is so much that the midshipmen need to know about Navy regulations,” Harm said, with exasperation. “I remember that there was so little I knew about how the Navy operates when I graduated from the Academy. I’m determined that these students leave the Academy much better informed than I was.”
“But, Harm, they’re only students. If we give them more than they can process, they’ll just turn us off, and not get anything out of the seminar at all!” As always, Mac was very perceptive. “Let’s look at it with a ‘need to know’ attitude. What are the most important things an 18 to 21-year-old needs to know at this point in his/her career?”
Harm stopped and stared at his partner. “You are amazing, you know that?”
“What?” Mac looked at him innocently.
“Once again you have managed to ‘hit the nail on the head.’ You’re right, we need to decide what the most important things are that they need to know.” Harm stopped his whirlwind acquisition of books off the shelves, and got out a pad of paper and pen. “Okay, Colonel, oh wise one, how shall we proceed?”
Mac looked at Harm and just grinned. She absolutely loved working with him. Maybe this was going to be more fun than she thought. “Okay, first of all, we could spend a week on the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Maybe we could divide that up between us, and highlight the most important parts.”
“Agreed. And then the second week could be spent on the Navy Instructions and Manuals.” Harm continued to write down notes on his legal pad.
“Then there’s the Navy Directives, the Ethics and Standards of Conduct, and the Manual for Courts-Martial,” Mac continued. “Whew--that only touches the surface! Sometimes I forget how many rules and regulations there are in the military! It can be overwhelming for someone brand new!”
“All the more reason for us to present it in an interesting way,” Harm pondered. “How about if we each pick one part to present, leaving it open for the other to make comments as needed, and then open it up to questions from the students? We could even present some real-life situations to them.” Harm was beginning to get excited about presenting this material to a group of eager, young students.
Mac caught on to his enthusiasm. “We could also have them work in small groups to create some role-playing to see if they truly understand what we’ve been talking about!”
Harm turned to his partner and smiled. “This is going to be so much better than anything I ever participated in at the Academy!”
Mac looked at the sparkle that was back in Harm’s eyes. When the Admiral had first presented this assignment to them, she was worried about how spending six weeks with Harm would turn out. But now, she was thinking, ‘This might turn out to be fun after all!’
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