Bud and Coates's trip to Afghanistan to attend a ceremony for a school has taken an unexpected turn as Bud is left badly wounded after stepping on a landmine while attempting to save a young Afghan boy. As Bud fights for his life, Harm and Mac, risking their respective military careers and also Chegwidden's wrath race to the U.S.S. Guadalcanal to provide support to Coates with all three waiting news as to whether or not Bud will survive the surgery while back in Virginia, the rest of the JAG staff also eagerly wait for news on Bud while also recalling the various meetings and encounters they've had with Bud over the last eight years while Admiral Chegwidden and Lieutenant Singer attend a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the "dirty bomb" attack against the U.S.S. Seahawk that w