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.