Sarah MacKenzie (or "Mac" to her JAG colleagues) is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps and was a lawyer assigned to JAG.
In the event that Chegwidden or his successor, Major General Gordon Cresswell are away, Mac who is the second-in-command will become Acting JAG.
Biography
Pre-Series
Born in 1966, the daughter of Joseph and Deanne MacKenzie, Mac had a fairly terrible childhood as her father was an alcoholic who regularly verbally and also physically abused both Deanne and young Mac.
On the eve of young Mac turning fifteen, Deanne, no longer able to cope with her husband's behavior towards both herself and Mac subsequently abandoned the family altogether, leaving young Mac alone with her father.
Harboring feelings of resentment and anger towards her mother for abandoning them, Mac herself became an alcoholic, a trait that engulfed her for most of her teenage years.
She also developed a strong grudge towards her mother for abandoning the family although Mac had sympathy for her father's efforts and attempts at raising her despite her father having his own personal demons.
At the age of seventeen and during her junior year of high school, Mac ran away from home and married a man named Christopher Ragle a year later.
The marriage didn't have any happiness as the two remained drunk most of the time although it ended when Ragle was later arrested and sent to prison for motor vehicle theft.
After that, Mac returned home and finished high school.
On the night of her graduating ceremony, she and her friend, Eddie were traveling in a car with the two drunk. The car then crashed with Mac surviving although Eddie died instantly.
Left devastated by Eddie's death, Mac hit rock bottom but her uncle, Marine Colonel Matthew O'Hara took her to Red Rock Mesa, Arizona, to dry out.
Once she had sobered up, Mac graduated from high school and joined the Marines.
Having finished Officer Candidate School, she was stationed as a First Lieutenant in Okinawa, Japan, as an Administration Officer under John Farrow.
It was under his recommendation that Mac was sponsored by the Marine Corps to study at Duke University School of Law.
While stationed in Okinawa, Mac engaged in an affair with Farrow.
Unbeknownst to Mac, Ragle who had been released from prison followed her to Okinawa and discovered the affair.
After that, Mac received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and her Juris Doctor degree from Duke University.
She was stationed in Bosnia during the civil war there.
JAG Season 2
Mac made her debut appearance in the JAG Season 2 premiere episode, We the People (episode).
JAG Season 3
JAG Season 4
JAG Season 5
JAG Season 6
JAG Season 7
JAG Season 8
JAG Season 9
In the JAG Season 9 episode "What If?", during a celebration which was held in honor of Coates being promoted to Petty First Class, Mac, like the rest of her JAG officers opened a cracker and found herself wondering what could have been.
During the episode, it was shown that she was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps who was also undergoing bitter divorce proceedings with her ex-husband, Harm, and also about to go on terminal leave.
JAG Season 10
Personality
Physical Appearance
Mac is a lean young woman in her early thirties or forties with short brown hair and light brown eyes.
Abilities
As a Marine, Mac is presumably trained in all forms of interrogation, hand-to-hand combat and firearms.
Relationships
Harmon Rabb
Awards and decorations
Here is a list of awards and decorations worn by LtCol MacKenzie in NCIS: Los Angeles Season 11.
- Defense Meritorious Service Medal
- Meritorious Service Medal, w/1 gold award star (2nd award)
- Joint Service Commendation Medal
- Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
- Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Joint Meritorious Unit Award
- Meritorious Unit Commendation
- National Defense Service Medal, w/1 bronze service star (2nd award)
- Afghanistan Campaign Medal, w/1 bronze service star (2nd award)
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
- Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon, w/2 bronze service stars (3rd award)
- Marine Corps Expert Rifle Badge (2nd award)
- Marine Corps Expert Pistol Badge (2nd award)
NOTE: In "Code of Conduct", Mac's uniform only displays her first eight awards and decorations (as well as her marksmanship badges); her other awards are only seen in behind-the-scenes photographs.