After a highly decorated Navy Captain, Charles Langston, kidnaps a Veterans Affairs administrator who has been siphoning funds, the NCIS team must work with Hetty's former Vietnam War colleagues, Retired Admiral AJ Chegwidden and Admiral Sterling Bridges to solve the case.

After Sam's wife, Michelle, is taken from her home, the kidnappers demand the prison release of Tahir Khaled, Sam's arch nemesis, in exchange for information on her whereabouts.