In the course of one day,
Louisville, Kentucky cab driver John Winger loses his job, his apartment, his car, and his girlfriend Anita, who has grown tired of his immaturity. Realizing his limited prospects, he decides to join the
Army and persuades best friend Russell Ziskey, a vocational
ESL teacher, to join as well. The two visit a recruiting office and are sent to basic training. Upon arrival, they meet their fellow recruits and their
drill sergeant, Sergeant Hulka. Following in-processing, the recruits introduce themselves and explain their reasons for enlisting. One of them, the overweight Dewey "Ox" Oxberger, wants to slim down and be respected. John irritates Hulka with his
slacker attitude, and he and Russell become romantically involved with
MPs Louise Cooper and Stella Hansen. After Hulka discovers that John and Russell have briefly gone
AWOL, Russell confesses his mistake, but John keeps silent. Hulka orders Russell to scrub garbage cans for 24 hours and gives the rest of the platoon two weeks of
KP duty. That night, Russell catches John attempting to
desert and stops him, angrily reminding John that it was his idea that they both enlist. Louise and Stella find them fighting and drive them back to their barracks without reporting them. As graduation approaches, Hulka is injured when Captain Stillman, the recruit company's commanding officer, orders a mortar crew to fire without first setting target coordinates. Later, members of Hulka's platoon sneak off base and visit a
mud wrestling bar. When MPs and local police raid the club, Stella and Louise help John and Russell escape. The rest of the platoon are returned to base, where Stillman reprimands them for being arrested and threatens to report them to the base commander, General Barnicke, and make them repeat basic training. John and Russell have sex with Stella and Louise, then return to base. John motivates the disheartened platoon with a speech and begins preparing them for graduation. After a night of practice, they oversleep and wake up an hour late for the ceremony. They rush to the parade ground, where John leads them in an unorthodox but highly coordinated drill display. Impressed upon learning that they completed their training without a drill sergeant, Barnicke assigns them to a secret project in
Italy. Upon arrival in Italy, the platoon is reunited with a recovered Hulka and tasked with guarding the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle, an
armored personnel carrier disguised as a
recreational vehicle. John and Russell steal it to visit Stella and Louise, who are stationed in
West Germany. When Stillman finds the RV missing, he launches an unauthorized mission to retrieve it. Stillman inadvertently leads the platoon across the border into
Czechoslovakia. Hulka jumps from their truck before the
Soviet Army captures it and sends out a radio distress call that John and Russell hear. John, Russell, Stella, and Louise take the EM-50 and infiltrate the Soviet base where the platoon is being held, rescuing them with aid from Hulka. Upon returning to the US, John, Russell, Louise, Stella, and Hulka are hailed as heroes and are each awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross. Hulka retires from the Army and opens a fast food restaurant; John, Russell, Ox, Stella, and Louise are featured on magazine covers; and Stillman is reassigned to a weather station in
Nome, Alaska. ==Cast==