A discharged Marine is recalled to active duty to stand trial for the unauthorized wearing of a Silver Star; Harm prosecutes, and Mac defends. The admiral sends Mac to see a shrink. Bud loses a snake. Harm and Mattie have ups and downs.

Mac discovers the reason for a false positive result of a drug test for an angry woman enlisted Marine, and Harm and Bud represent a senior chief petty officer who is HIV-positive, and whose privacy has become compromised.