Jim Moore is a tough-as-nails Drill Instructor with a chip on his shoulder: Pvt. Owens, who isn't quite up to snuff. Sgt. Moore is convinced that "there's a man underneath that baby powder" and sets out to force the private to rise to the occasion. Instead, he drives Owens to bail out altogether. Things only get worse when the Captain steps in and gives Moore three days to make the a Marine out of the petrified private.