Sergeant Thomas Highway is an old-fashioned Marine Corps sergeant who is out of step with the new-fashioned military and returns to his old outfit as a gunnery sergeant, where he runs afoul of 1980s-style superior officers to whom the words "Gung Ho" are foolish anachronisms. But through his tough tutelage, Highway's lackadaisical platoon is whipped into a first-rate fighting machine, favoring teamwork over such New Age concepts as "self-fulfillment." Finally, the men prove their mettle during the invasion of Grenada.