Within a few hours, New York City cab driver John Winger loses his job, his apartment, his car, and his girlfriend Anita, who has finally tired of his immaturity. Realizing that he has few prospects, he decides to join the Army. He talks his best friend Russell Ziskey, a vocational teacher of English as a second language, into joining him, and they go to a recruiting office and are soon sent off to basic training near Louisville, Kentucky. Upon arriving at Fort Arnold, they meet their fellow recruits, and their drill sergeant, Sergeant Hulka. Moments after arriving, John annoys Sergeant Hulka and is ordered to do push-ups. While outgoing in disposition, he is reluctant and stands out as a slacker throughout basic training. John and Russell quickly bond with their platoon, which is composed of a bunch of misfits. Their commanding officer is the haughty and dull-witted Captain Stillman. As basic training progresses, the pair become romantically involved with female MPs Louise Cooper and Stella Hansen. Not long before graduation, Hulka is injured when Stillman, trying to impress a visiting colonel, orders a mortar crew to fire without setting target coordinates. After Sergeant Hulka is injured, the men sneak off base and go to a mud wrestling bar, where John convinces Dewey "Ox" Oxberger to wrestle a group of women. When MPs and police raid the club, Stella and Louise hide John and Russell. The rest of the platoon are returned to base, where a furious Stillman threatens to make them all repeat basic training.