TORRANCE TRIBUNE July 2, 2015 Page 7 Behind the Scenes of NCIS By TerriAnn Ferren Photos by TerriAnn Ferren Beginning its 13th season this fall, with 18 million viewers, NCIS just received their second Golden Nymph Award ‘for the most watched show in the world’. The show reflects not only superb acting, but also an accurate depiction of real NCIS agents. How is that done? Fortunately, I was able to meet with South Bay resident Mr. Leon Carroll Jr., the man behind the scenes, who watches over the finer details of NCIS, assuring they reflect the real agency. Sitting down with Mr. Leon Carroll Jr. in his beautiful backyard, I asked him how he came to live in the South Bay. He was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, leaving to attend college at North Dakota State. Leon first visited California when he was 8 years old in 1958, when he flew with his family for the first time, to attend the funeral of his uncle. At that young age, Leon decided he wanted to live California. He joined the United States Marines in 1972, and served until 1978, and then did another 5 years with the reserves. As a Marine, Leon was stationed in Camp Pendleton, San Diego, and on board the USS Ogden. After leaving the Marines, he headed back to college in North Dakota, working on his master’s degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice. It was during that time he met his lovely wife, Jackie in Fargo. Jackie told me “I’ll never forget it because as he was opening the door for me … and he said he had gotten a letter from NIS and was accepted as an agent, (Naval Investigative Service), which is now NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), and I thought I don’t even know what this is, but okay. That was in September 1980, at the beginning of his career with NCIS, which was then NIS.” Leon then added, “Originally it was called ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). We’re different from the other military investigative agencies in that we’re predominantly civilians. We started primarily in WWI as a counter espionage agency and that continued Leon Carroll. into WWII. In 1996, there was a shift from ONI to NIS (Naval Investigative Service) and they did background investigation and felony criminal work as well as the counter intelligence stuff we had historically done. This [coming] year will be the 50th anniversary of this whole organization which became NCIS in 1992 following a reorganization that was spurred on by the Tailhook Investigation. They added ‘Criminal’ to the name to show that we emphasize criminal investigation. At that time they appointed a civilian director. The whole culture of the agency changed.” Wow, that was the history of NCIS in a nutshell. Leon was there at the beginnings of what is now NCIS and his knowledge is extensive. Talking with Leon and Jackie, I could see how this has been a huge part of their lives. But how did Leon come to work on NCIS, the television show? Leon told me he became Assistant Special Agent in charge of Counter Intelligence for two and a half years, and then was sent to Panama, in charge of the Panama Agency for two years, from 1991 – 1993 with Operation Just Cause. Next, he was assigned to Norfolk, Virginia, as the Assistant Regional Director of Counter Intelligence and this was at the same time they had a major reorganization and he was Assistant Special Agent in charge of the Norfolk Field Office of Counter Intelligence. From there, he became a Special Agent in charge of the Northwest Field Office in Washington State, and after a couple months at headquarters – he retired on March 3, 2001. “When I retired I wanted to teach, actually but wanted a few months to decompress - and 911 happened 6 months later, and I ended up volunteering to go back,” said Leon. It was at the time Leon had decided to retire that a new television show was being put together by Don Bellisario, who had created JAG (another successful show). Leon knew there had been other attempts to create a show about NCIS, but with the reputation of Bellisario and his successes under his belt; such as Magnum, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Quantum Leap, etc. this attempt looked promising. Leon was contacted via his boss and asked if he was interested in working on a television show about NCIS agents after he retired. Leon said, yes, he would be willing to help. With his expertise, they couldn’t have found a more qualified candidate for the job. He met with Don Bellisario, also a Marine, and the two hit it off right away. Then Leon was introduced to Don’s number two, Charles Johnson. “He said Charles is very famous in Hollywood, a low-key guy - producer [of the film] Red Tails. He had worked with Don for a long time and that is how I started. More than anything, I would say I was in the right place at the right time. This was August/September 2003,” added Leon. In August of 2003 filming began on NCIS, with CBS. Leon told me, “I knew as much as anybody about the organization [NCIS] and I had a unique situation, in that I also knew Marine culture - having been one for 6 years - and I knew Navy culture - because I had been on a Navy ship for 2 years. So I think what I brought to the show was unique. I try and stay away from advising on the military stuff, I do know what the Navy Marine Corps thinks about pretty much everything.” I can’t help but feel that Leon’s many varied experiences give him an advantage over technical advisors on other shows. “All three NCIS shows have an NCIS Technical Advisor; for New Orleans, it’s a guy from New Orleans - he worked at our New Orleans office for a long time; here in L.A. - it is another agent who worked for me here in L.A. - and he is also a former Marine. We talk regularly and we know each other quite well, actually,” said Leon. “Don, from day one, wanted a character based show and he has done that in all of his shows - he has always had some bit of humor in them. When you sit down and read a script – my job is basically to work with the writers in the development stages of the stories and normally they’ll call me and ask me if this is something that would happen, and sometimes we obviously have to take Hollywood license but I always remember Don saying, he would ask me – how would you guys really do this and if we could do it that way, and still be entertaining, we would do it. He laid the groundwork where the actors, in their culture – they embrace that, and so there are times, I don’t even have to say anything, they’ll tell the writer or the director – that is not how they would do it,” said Leon. “Every actor that has been a part of the show for any significant amount of time has also spent time with Leon at the gun range, going to the different offices, and talking with different people at NCIS. At Christmas, the TerriAnn in Torrance painting TKO PAINTING CO. INC. Knocking Out The Competition #833537 Satisfaction Guaranteed Great Competitive Prices FOR A FREE ESTIMATE Call Troy at 310-663-1672 24 Hour Service Since 1990 • Lic # 770059 • C-42 C-36 C-34 C20 A painting PAINTERS PLUS INTERIOR • EXTERIOR PLUS IMPROVEMENTS • REPAIRS FREE ESTIMATES LOWEST PRICES • GUARANTEED QUALITY 5 YEAR FREE MAINTENANCE SERVING THE BEACH CITIES FOR OVER 20 YEARS handyman BILL’S HOME & APARTMENT MAINTENANCE CONTRACTOR QUALITY at Handyman Prices. We cover everything from A-Z. 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