 Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway has been in the Corps since the Korean War and would like to see some action and a victory before he retires. He requests to be transfered to the unit that he was once busted out of. Upon arriving the commanding officer knows of Highway s reputation, especially of his lack of respect for his superiors, warns him that he is going to keep an eye on him. Highway s assigned to train a recon unit which consists mostly of deadbeats. But Highway s determined to turn them into true marines and they are not exactly pleased with him, at first. And he is also trying to reconnect with his ex-wife.