Lt. Commander Mike Ito (the grandson), played by Daisuke Tsuji, is wearing the designator insignia of the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) on his shoulder epaulettes; the JAG corps is the legal arm of the United States Navy. The NCIS franchise/universe began with the series JAG (1995), the series followed Navy officer Lt. Commander Harmon Rabb and Marine Corps officer Major Sarah McKenzie, who were investigators and prosecutors for the Navy's JAG office at Naval Station Norfolk.
Kai relates an incident on when he first arrived on the mainland and was mistaken for a Mexican. Anthony Ruivivar who plays Tennant's ex husband David played a Latino EMT on Third Watch, who was later revealed to be Hawaiian and not Latino as he believed.