The fictional target of the sneak terrorist attack is USS Wake Island. The real ship by that name was CVE-65, which served 1943-46; she was an escort aircraft carrier, also known as a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop", of the Casablanca class.
The United States Marine Corps 1st Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team Company (FAST) is mentioned as being one of the teams that responded to the attack on the USS Wake Island. The 1st FAST platoon became known in real life for being one of the investigators, along with NCIS and the FBI, of the bombing of the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, that situation is similar to this episode. The USS Cole (DDG-67), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, was docked and refueling in the Aden harbor in Yemen when a small fiberglass boat carrying about 700 pounds of C4 explosives approached the port-side of the Cole's hull and exploded. The explosion ripped a 40-by-60 foot hole in the side of the destroyer's hull killing seventeen members of the Cole's crew (as well as the two bombers on the boat) and injured a further 37 crew members, and a few local dock workers. The Marine's manning the Cole's point-defense .50 caliber guns noticed the boat approaching, they attempted to warn it off but rules of engagement at the time said they could not fire on a civilian vessel without being fired on first. This incident lead to a change in Navy policy for ship defense while in-port and in rules of engagement. After warships had the new Long Rage Acoustic Device installed in them, which allows warships to give an approaching vessel ignoring hails fair warning that defensive action will be taken against them if they fail to change course; and the new rules of engagement laid out by the Navy states that if an approaching civilian vessel fails to answer radio hails and ignores audio warnings the ship's weapon crews may open fire (initially with a warning shot) on suspicious vessels that close to within a certain distance without waiting for orders. The CIA picked up chatter from Al-Qaeda indicating they were taking credit for the bombing, and evidence later confirmed this. The three Al-Qaeda leaders responsible for planning the attack on the Cole were all eventually located and killed in missile strikes from Predator drone strikes.
The sidearm carried by Corporal Barry is a Springfield Armory .45 ACP, it's military designation is the M45A1, and in the Marine Corps it is called the MEU(SOC) "Marine expeditionary unit (special operations capable)". The standard issue sidearm for the US military was changed to the Beretta M9 9x19mm in 1985, including the Marine Corps, prior to that is was the Colt M1911 .45 ACP. However certain elite units were issued other sidearms, the M45A1 is issued to Recon Battalions, Security, and Emergency Services Battalions. Corporal Barry is with the 1st Marine Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST), which is both a security and a special forces unit.
One of the units that responds to the bombing is the 1st Marine Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST). FAST platoons are trained to rapidly respond and deploy to immediately improve security at US government and military installations around the world. They are considered a special operations unit and are highly trained in close quarters battle and hostage rescue. FAST units act as a limited-duration, expeditionary security force to protect vital naval and national assets in the event of a terrorist attack or the threat of one. FAST units are also highly trained for the possibility of a US building or installation to become captured by terrorists forces, they would be used in that situation as a threat elimination and hostage rescue unit. Notable incidents that the 1st Marine FAST company have responded to include providing enhanced base security for US bases in the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm, deploying to the Battle of Mogadishu during UN Operation Gothic Serpent in October of 1993 to help rescue the crew of two downed US Army Black Hawk choppers that were shot down by enemy rebel forces, they deployed to the Port of Aden in Yemen in October of 2000 following the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole while in port Marine FAST reinforced security around the Cole and the port until the investigation was finished and they were deployed to reinforce security at military bases in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Mac mentions that Corporal Barry's new attorney is "using a Twinkie defense", which is a term used to refer to a defense strategy that is unusual and unlikely to work. The term originates from a 1979 murder trial in San Francisco of Dan White, a former police officer and firefighter who had been working as a city district supervisor (similar to a city council member) when he killed two people. White had been working as a city supervisor but resigned from his position because his salary was not enough to support his family, he had recommended a replacement for himself who was well liked by the people in his district. However Mayor George Moscone ignored White's recommendation and instead hired a man named Harvey Milk to take over for White, Milk's political views were in-line with the mayor's and this angered both White and the residents of the district he had supervised. On the morning Mayor Moscone was to announce Milk's hiring White entered city hall, walked into his old office and shot Milk, then walked down to the mayor's office and shot him as well, both died on the scene. White was apprehended a short time later and charged with two counts of murder in the first degree, making him eligible to be sentenced to the death penalty. White's attorney used a diminished capacity defense, he entered evidence showing White had been suffering from severe depression for months, and because of his depression he began eating nothing but Twinkie's. He argued that the depression White suffered from reduced his capacity to understand his actions and their consequences, at the time everyone thought this defense strategy was ridiculous. However it worked, the jury wound up finding White not guilty on the two counts of murder in the first degree, but guilty on two counts of manslaughter in the first degree. A reporter incorrectly stated that White's attorney had used the Twinkies themselves as a defense and said that White wasn't responsible for his actions because of a sugar rush, even though this wasn't true it became a popular myth and the origin of the term.