Lieutenant, Junior Grade Megan Austin (

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

), is a main character from the first season of the television series '' JAG'' portrayed by actress

Tracey Needham Tracey Renee Needham (born March 28, 1967) is an American actress who has acted primarily in television roles such as Paige Thatcher on '' Life Goes On'' (2nd-4th seasons; 1990–1993), Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) Meg Austin on the first seas ...

Character Biography

Meg Austin was the second partner to Lieutenant Harmon Rabb, replacing then Lieutenant JG

Caitlin Pike Caitlin "Kate" Pike is a character in the American TV series '' JAG'' portrayed by Andrea Parker. She appears as the partner of Harmon "Harm" Rabb ( David James Elliott) in the pilot episode. Pike then appears as a recurring character in the fi ...

. She is from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and inherited a friendship from her deceased father, an obscure character very well connected in the intelligence community named "Ollie" in clear reference to

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...

(portrayed by himself on three episodes in 1995, 1996 and 2002), who knew her father and who helped her on some of their investigations. She also proved to have superior computer skills to both Rabb and Kate due to a previous stint in weapons and computer R&D. We also find out in her first episode that she has extreme

claustrophobia Claustrophobia is the fear of confined spaces. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms wit ...

(fear of confined spaces), which was a continual problem for her character. After her departure from JAG headquarters, she also recommended that

Bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

be placed on JAG staff.

Awards and decorations

The list below contains Austin's known awards current as of the end of season 1. The names are given in order of precedence, according to SECNAVINST 1650.1F and the U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 1566.5G).

Background

The executives at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

didn't like

Andrea Parker Andrea N. Parker is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles on '' ER'', '' The Pretender'', ''Less than Perfect'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and ''Pretty Little Liars''. Career Her first documented film role was at ...

's character (

) in the pilot, so they had to recast Rabb's partner for the series. Andrea Parker went on to work on '' The Pretender'' but came back to guest star on a few episodes later in the season. When ''JAG'' was cancelled by NBC after the first season, Needham left the series. When

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

picked up ''JAG'' from the second season onward, she was replaced by Catherine Bell, playing then Major

Sarah MacKenzie Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie is a fictional character and lead role in the American television series '' JAG'', played by Catherine Bell. The character was created by Donald P. Bellisario, as a work for hire for Paramount Television, in the script for ...

. Her final, non-flashback appearance was in the final and rarely aired season 1 episode ''

Skeleton Crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...

''. Austin also appeared via flashback in seasons 3 and 9.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Meg JAG (TV series) characters Television characters introduced in 1995 Fictional United States Navy personnel Fictional American lawyers Fictional United States Navy officers