Zack Mayo is. Once he arrives in training camp because of his or her 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, and no nonsense drill Sergeant Emil Foley. Mayo is a great cadet, but just a little cold around the heart Foley rides him mercilessly, feeling that the young man will be officer material if he weren't so self-involved. Zack's affair with a girl that was working is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself.