Delaney's prep work includes visits to huge military installations, including Fort Bragg, N.C., which also serves as home to the XVIII Airborne Corps.

Sometimes the producers and military brass pair up the actresses with the genuine service wives who most resemble their characters. It isn't always easy to find a partner for Delaney, who plays the ultimate do-gooder whether she likes it or not.

"I'm intrigued by marriages in the military, because I don't think I could do it," said Delaney, 49, who picked up an Emmy Award and a slew of other prize nominations during her eight-year stint on "NYPD Blue" (1995-2003) as Det. Diane Russell. "Even though none of us know what's happening tomorrow or an hour from now, long separations and uncertainty have to take their toll on relationships.

"But the responses I've gotten from real Army wives - after talking to many of them - are nearly identical," Delaney said. "They basically say, 'You don't understand - there's nothing like that hug when they get off the plane at home. Every single time.' I see their functioning marriages as admirable and sweet."

The concept of "Army Wives" - shot in South Carolina on the active Charleston Naval Station and the mothballed Charleston Air Force Base - is the examination of five people who are great friends, but under different circumstances would not be friends. It all happens on an Army post, but their human emotions are universal.

"I think of Claudia Joy like she's Maria Shriver, the first lady of California and the wife of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger," she said, laughing. "But besides holding the 'civilian rank' roughly that of her husband (Brian McNamara), my character is also the matriarch and moral center of the group of tight-knit women played by Sally Pressman, Pamela Moran, Joan Burton and Catherine Bell."

"Army Wives," which debuted last year with 13 episodes and is just back with 19 more segments for its second stellar season, may be a deadly task, according to Delaney.

"Last year, we started sooner and were done by the first week of July, when it was getting hot," she explained. "Most of us went home to spouses and children on either coast. We were comfortable.

"This year, we got a late start because of the writers' strike and plan on shooting right through the summer," Delaney continued, already breaking a sweat. "Can't wait for those 100-degree days coupled with 100 percent humidity. Not to mention bugs the size of coconuts. The cool thing is that Charleston is a beautiful city with lots of wonderful restaurants. And most of the cast has relocated here, hoping for a long-term gig. That means we hang tight, constantly going out for dinner together and hang out in general."

Born and raised in Philadelphia, she is the only daughter of Jack Delaney (former president of the powerful United Auto Workers union, now retired) and Joan Delaney (a sleepless homemaker when their four sons are factored into the equation, and not allowed to retire). "They're all brilliant," she sighed, "including one brother who won two Emmys for producing sports shows before I earned my first statuette. Another is a major tax lawyer, etc."

Always interested in showbiz, Delaney got a leg up when she was signed by the prestigious Elite Agency at the age of 15. She earned it in Philadelphia the hard way - knocking on doors and hounding a few contacts.

A year later, she took her act to New York City, modeling for Elite and auditioning for TV commercials during the day, doing her homework on the train home to Philadelphia every night.

More and more enamored with acting, she studied the craft for two years with legendary coach William Esper between modeling assignments in the Western Hemisphere. A reasonably fast study, she nailed down the third acting audition to come along and was cast as Jenny Gardner Nelson (1981-84) on the daytime sudser "All My Children." It was followed by such feature films as "The Delta Force," "The Drifter" and "The Force." She was even more successful as a leading character in the TV series "Tour of Duty," "Philly," "CSI: Miami" and "The O.C."

Delaney was financially independent by the time her marriages to actors Charles Grant (1984-88) and Joseph Cortese (1989-94) went sour. But the second marriage yielded the most important person in her life, her 18-year-old son Jack Philip Cortese. "And in fall, Jack moves from L.A. to study at the University of Pennsylvania," she thrilled. "It will make life a whole lot easier for both of us. I'm blessed. Life is really good."

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