Matching Socks Symbol
Galloway tells Kaffee that he should wear matching socks to court. To her, his mis-matched socks are a sign of sloppiness and of not taking things seriously. Her preoccupation with his socks is also a symbol of her rigid militaristic way of looking at things, rather than seeing the bigger picture, she focuses on the tiny little details that in her military capacity are extremely important.
Code Red Symbol
Code Red symbolizes the fact that it is time to rough up a Marine who is falling behind or unpopular. This coded symbol is actually the pivotal point in the court case as Santiago's beating was as a result of a "code red."
David Cox Allegory
In 1996, David Cox was a Marine stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when his platoon commander gave him, and others, the order to commit a hazing "code red" against Private First Class William Alvarado. Although Alvarado did not die, unlike Santiago in the movie, he was severely injured and hospitalized. The Marines were charged with varying levels of participation in the attacks, but Cox maintained that although what they did was wrong, they were just following orders. The film is allegorical of this incident.
Galloway Symbol
Demi Moore admitted to wanting the role of Galloway because she was asexual; the lack of frisson between Galloway and Kaffee made some critics question whether the character needed to have been a woman at all. This was intentional on Sorkin's part; he wanted Galloway to represent neither men nor women, but to be a symbol of the Marine Corps and its commitment to service.
Military versus Civilian Motif
Jessup is constantly angry during his verbal altercations with Kaffee and part of the reason for this is that he does not feel that he should be answerable to someone without rank, without a commission and who is not, strictly speaking, "military." This "us versus them" motif recurs throughout the movie and begins with the actual murder of Santiago. He was not really considered one of the men, partly because he went to great lengths to make himself an outsider, but he was definitely viewed as someone who did not belong in the Marine corps and was dragging his unit down.
Jessup is also of the view that he should not have to answer to anyone who is a civilian. It seems like an act of extreme insubordination to him and he cannot understand why anyone unimportant - in other words, not a Marine - should be permitted to question his judgement.
