 Charlie, a black soldier, has just been promoted to corporal. But his new-found success attracts the attention of Hunter, his racist sergeant, who begins to make Charlie s life hell. Just when Charlie thinks he has discovered a solution to the problem, Foster, a new black recruit, arrives and everything changes. Foster doesn t play by the rules and things are complicated further by Foster s own prejudices when he comes across Charlie and his friend Allinson, apparently in a sexual encounter. Caught in a spiral of hatred and intolerance, Charlie s fate is taken out of his hands when events erupt into a direct and brutal confrontation.