The Lieutenant - Season 1 (1963)

Rice is pulled on a temporary assignment to be the aid for a general. Due to his fine work and influence of a girl he is being considered as a permanent replacement, something Rice dreads.

Rice reports for his first day as a commissioned officer, and is handed a command known for its ill discipline. Rice needs to understand the issues within the unit and try and meld them into a cohesive force.

To complete a section of his infantry training Rice must fly attack mission Marine fighters. As training progresses Rice realizes he has a fear of flying. Not willing to give up he speaks to the base doctor about how he can complete the training.

Rice is asked to be part of a planning committee for a charity event. His friendship with one of the committee members leads to gossip mongers in the group making claims the two are having affair.

Lt. Rice is sent on anti insurgency exercises with Captain Thomson. A series of incidents occur that make Rice uncomfortable with the report he must submit about the exercises.

Rice is pressed upon by a friend to look after his girl in advance of a year-long posting in the far east without leave. She demands they marry right away, and it falls on Rice to quickly put together a formal Marine wedding ceremony.

Rice is given a squad of foreign soldiers to train, one being a woman has been singled out for special attention throughout training. As the tour progresses Rice discovers things about the history of the solider that makes him ponder how exactly he will measure success.

Lt Allison is to be court marshaled over a hit and run incident. He asks his friend Rice to defend him in court despite Rice's lack of experience. What seems to be an open and shut case, becomes more complex as new evidence is uncovered.

Rice is called away when his unit is called to alert and prepared to fly out on exercise. There is real concern this might not be an exercise and they might be going to war. Rice has to deal with all his own emotions as well as those he commands.

Rice is given a difficult unit to command after the previous commander failed to meet his objectives. Rice tries to turn the unit around by raising morale but his own commanding officer questions his techniques.

Captain Rambridge is surprised when an adoption agency delivers a young Koren boy into his care. He tasks Rice with untangling the mess and getting the boy out of his life.

An ex Marine who is also a journalist is assigned to Rice's unit to do an article on the modern Marine core. Rice quickly discovers not is all as it should be in the situation.

Rice returns to his home town to aid in the burial of a Marine killed in a training accident. He has to deal with the grieving family of the boy as well as the changes that have occurred since he has been away.

Rice becomes entangled in efforts by Captain Bambridge's wife to reconcile their marriage.

A drunk driver kills himself and puts Rice in a naval hospital with paralyzed legs. Te doctors are unsure of his chances for recovery. For days, he wallows in self pity until he meets another patient, a bubbly admiral's daughter who helps him through therapy, and into a love affair.

Sgt. Capp comes to Rice with a personal problem. It seems somehow he's gotten into trouble and as a consequence has to marry a girl.

After Rambridge is stricken with appendicitis, Rice is put in charge of a major maneuver. He has issues with the attitude of a fellow officer. The situation becomes critical when a breakdown of communications leads to a potential battlefield disaster.

Rice is confronted with racism in his unit. He sets out to find a solution, but the answer seems as elusive as ever.

Rice, while updating the regimental history comes across the intriguing story of a commanding officer who had 6 of men awarded bravery medals. As he investigates further he discovers a very reluctant hero, and as time goes on he discovers the source of that reluctance.

Rice is in charge of the local shore patrols for the day. He has to make a series of decisions about the men being brought in on various charges. He must balance his instincts with what the navy and marines expect.

A newspaper reporter writing an expose of Marine training methods holds Rice responsible for the accidental death of a Marine.

Rice loses his girlfriend to a Naval Academy football All-American, who also happens to be the nephew of the colonel.

During the course of serving as advisor while shooting a training film for the marines, Rice encounters a temperamental starlet who gets into trouble by being caught in a raid on a wild party. She seeks to beat a studio contract's "morals clause" by trying to be linked romantically with the wholesome young marine.

A young sergeant is being evaluated for officer training, but unexpectedly it's revealed that his mother is a communist agent and she's in town to pitch a rabble-rousing speech at a rally where she will denounce the Marine Corps for not immediately elevating his rank, against his wishes. It falls on Rice to determine what will be done with the sergeant.

To shore up a security risks at another marine facility where new weapons technologies are tested, including long range missiles, Rice is sent undercover as a civilian contractor to analyze the problem. He finds that some of the men in charge are extremely careless with classified material.

While en route to Han Ang to deliver classified papers, the helicopter Rice is traveling on goes down in hostile territory.