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‘Army Wives’ goes inside the family

Catherine Bell is back in the ranks.

After playing Marine Lt. Col. Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie on the hit TV series “JAG,” she joins an ensemble cast as a military spouse in “Army Wives.”

The first of a planned 13 episodes of the new series was set to debut June 3 at 10 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific time) on Lifetime. Based on Army spouse Tanya Biank’s book “Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives,” the series follows five spouses through the pressures of military life.

She plays homemaker Denise Sherwood, who has a teenage son with her Army major husband. The son, we’re told, has “a shocking secret.”

The other spouses are:

• Claudia Joy Holden, played by Kim Delaney of “NYPD Blue.” She’s the admired wife of Col. Michael Holden (Brian McNamara of “The O.C.”)

• Pamela Moran (Brigid Brannagh), a former cop who now earns money as a surrogate — a life she has to hide at the risk of being blackballed by the community.

• Roxy LeBlanc (Sally Pressman), a mother of two working as a bartender who marries a soldier, Trevor (Drew Fuller of “Charmed”), after knowing him only a few days.

• Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown), who tries to adapt to the post-traumatic stress his lieutenant colonel wife (Wendy Davis) suffers after her return from war.

Behind this series — set at a fictional “Fort Marshall” but shot on location in Charleston, S.C. — is Mark Gordon, executive producer of the ABC hit “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Biank, whose husband is an Army lieutenant colonel stationed at the Pentagon, serves as a consultant for the show.

Her knowledge of the twists of military life is evident, as Trevor and Roxy arrive at their new house on base to find a citation for letting the grass grow too tall, issued before they’d moved in. It also shows in the reactions of Claudia and Michael to the news that Holden had been passed over for his first star — the two express that combination of disappointment, frustration and hope for “the next time around” that those who are passed over know all too well.

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Catch a sneak preview of the premiere online at http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/armywives/index.php.

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