NCIS agency gets spotlight thanks to book series by actor and former agent

When one of television’s most enduring and popular shows, “NCIS,” launched in 2003, actor Mark Harmon — in the show’s lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and now its executive producer — was always intrigued by the “real” cases that the mostly anonymous agency handled.

Enter Leon Carroll Jr., then a Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent and San Pedro resident, who soon became a valued consultant on the show.

Since meeting early on during an “NCIS” cast visit, the two have built a close friendship and are gaining attention for their growing joint endeavor — researching and writing nonfiction, historical accounts of little known events in NCIS history.

Their first book in 2023, “Ghosts of Honolulu,” tells the “untold story of Pearl Harbor,” and a Japanese spy and the spy hunter, highlighting the tale of Douglas Wada, a Japanese American NCIS special agent.

When one of television’s most enduring and popular shows, “NCIS,” launched in 2003, actor Mark Harmon — in the show’s lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and now its executive producer — was always intrigued by the “real” cases that the mostly anonymous agency handled.

Enter Leon Carroll Jr., then a Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent and San Pedro resident, who soon became a valued consultant on the show.

Since meeting early on during an “NCIS” cast visit, the two have built a close friendship and are gaining attention for their growing joint endeavor — researching and writing nonfiction, historical accounts of little known events in NCIS history.

Their first book in 2023, “Ghosts of Honolulu,” tells the “untold story of Pearl Harbor,” and a Japanese spy and the spy hunter, highlighting the tale of Douglas Wada, a Japanese American NCIS special agent.