Harmon Rabb
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Captain Harmon 'Harm' Rabb, Jr., JAGC, USN (played by David James Elliott) is the lead male character in the JAG TV series.
In the first episode we see him as a Judge Advocate with the rank of Lieutenant, and follow his career from that point as the series progresses. Considering the longevity of JAG, there is plenty of background information on his past life and military service that are given at various points in the series.
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[edit] Youth & family
Harmon Rabb, Jr. was born on October 25, 1963 in La Jolla, California to naval aviator, Lieutenant Harmon Rabb, Sr. USN and Patricia Reed. His father was flying F-4 Phantoms off of the USS Ticonderoga during the Vietnam War, serving with then-lieutenant Thomas Boone, when he was shot down on Christmas Eve, 1969, and was considered MIA. His mother went on to happily remarry to Frank Burnett, a senior VP of Chrysler Corporation. When he was 16, Harm went to Laos to look for his father together with Colonel Francis Stryker.
Years later, Harm was able to trace his father's fate. After he was shot down, Harmon Rabb, Sr. was taken to Russia, escaped from his captors, had an affair with a gypsy (producing one son), and was killed protecting her from Russian soldiers in 1980. Harm meet his half-brother, Sergeant Sergei Zhukov of the Russian Army (played by Jade Carter), who came to see him in USA and had an affair with Lieutenant Loren Singer. After he returned to Russia, Sergei was shot down by Chechnya rebels while flying helicopters but was saved by CIA agent and Harm's friend Clayton Webb, who exchanged two trucks of wheat for him.
[edit] Service
Harm graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1985. He went on to enter flight school and subsequently earned his gold wings. During his early naval career, Harm flew F-14 Tomcats. After an accident during a night landing on an aircraft carrier, in which his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) dies, it is revealed that Harm suffers from night blindness (although in later seasons this is proved to be a mis-diagnosis). After graduating from law school at Georgetown University, he was transferred to JAG. After a few years as a Judge Advocate, he goes through laser surgery to correct what was misdiagnosed as night blindness (actually retinal scarring) and resumes his career as a naval aviator. Because of the low chance of him ever progressing further in his career as an aviator, Harm returned to JAG Headquarters after six months of service aboard the USS Patrick Henry. While serving at JAG, Harm still kept up to date with his flight status. Due to the Navy phasing out the Tomcats in the later part of his career, Harm was forced to earn his qualification on the newer F/A-18 Hornet. At one point, after being denied leave from Admiral Chegwidden to rescue Mac, Harm resigned from the Navy. He had a short stint working for the CIA before being fired. Harm was subsequently reinstated into the Navy and once again served at JAG Headquarters.
Although the series' ending was left to the audience's imagination, one outcome is that Harm currently serves as First Judge Advocate for Naval Forces Europe, living in London, England with his wife, Sarah MacKenzie. The other is that Harm retires from the Navy and lives in San Diego, CA with his wife, the forementioned Sarah MacKenzie, the commander of Joint Legal Service Center Southwest.
[edit] Dates of Promotion
- Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in episode 1.13 Defensive Action
- Promoted to Commander in episode 5.9 Contemptuous Words
- Promoted to Captain in episode 10.21 Dream Team
[edit] Partners
- Lieutenant (Junior Grade) / Commander Caitlin Pike, USN (Andrea Parker) - left during the first season, she returned to guest in season 6 episode "Touch and Go".
- Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Meg Austin, USN (Tracey Needham) - left after 1st season when JAG was first canceled by NBC.
- Lieutenant Commander Tracy Manetti, USN (Tamlyn Tomita) - Harm's partner for seven episodes in season 8.
- Major / Lieutenant Colonel Sarah 'Mac' MacKenzie, USMC (Catherine Bell) - Harm's long-time partner, best friend, and later on fiancée.
[edit] Harm's Awards and Decorations
In Order of Precedence
- Silver Star
- Distinguished Flying Cross (with gold award star)
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Meritorious Unit Commendation
- National Defense Service Medal (with bronze service star)
- Southwest Asia Service Medal (with bronze service star)
- Kosovo Campaign Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
- Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
- Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
- Romanian Medal
[edit] Trivia
- Harm became the only pilot to land C-130 Hercules onboard the Aircraft Carrier the USS Seahawk, During the time he was flying for the CIA. This was based on a true event when Lt. James Flatley III (USN) received the Distinguished Flying Cross for landing his C-130 Hercules on board the USS Forrestal (CV-59).
- Harm received his Silver Star award for leading a Nuclear Missile away from the USS Seahawk in an F-14 Tomcat.
- Harm received his two Distinguished Flying Crosses for saving the CAG of the USS Seahawk after a mid-air collison and for pushing his Wingman to safety using his wingman's tailhook and his F-14's windscreen. The latter event was based on a real life action performed by US Air Force Captain Robert Pardo during the Vietnam War[1].
- Harm was given a Medal by the King of Romania for saving the king's daughter. He is authorized to wear the medal with his awards.
- Harm owns a vintage Stearman plane that he named "Sarah" after his grandmother (not his partner). He likes to take friends up flying when he's not working.
- He lives in a small Washington DC loft apartment that he renovated himself.
- He plays guitar to relax.
- He runs and lifts weights to stay in shape and is a healthy eater.
- During the first few seasons of JAG, he smoked Cuban cigars occasionally but then later quit (after Mac objected to them).
- He used to own a classic red Corvette but it was stolen. He later built a Corvette Stingray (with help from Cmdr. Sturgis Turner) which he almost lost due to insurance fraud from an old woman.
- When he was flying off the USS Patrick Henry his call sign was "Pappy" because he was older than the other aviators. Later the other pilots re-named him "Hammer", because that was his father's call sign and that they thought that Harm Sr. would have been impressed by his son's bravery.
- Nearly every Christmas, Harm visits the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Christmas Eve to pay tribute to his father, who was shot down on Christmas Eve. In one episode, he met a woman who was present on the USS Ticonderoga when his father was shot down.
- Harm is a third generation aviator. His grandfather was killed flying off the USS Hornet in 1942 during the Second World War. His father also flew of the USS Hornet, the successor to the Second World War carrier, he was shot down and went MIA while flying off the USS Ticonderoga during the Vietnam War, and Harmon's half-brother is also a pilot, formerly flying for the Russian armed forces. All of them have been involved in military aviation crashes during their careers.
- In the pilot episode for NCIS, Rabb is accused of killing "Lt. Loren Singer". In real life, David James Elliot is married to Canadian-born actress Nanci Chambers who plays Lt. Singer.
- Rabb likes olives, organic noodles (he eats at Ho's Organic Noodles) and Thai food.
