In May 1953, a new group of Army recruits at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, encounter their drill sergeants, SSG Laverne Holt (Karl Malden) and the deeply troubled SFC Thorne Ryan (Richard Widmark).

In a bar, Ryan and Holt see a beautiful woman, Julie Mollison (Elaine Stewart), buying drinks for a group of young recruits, including some of their own.

One day, recruit Lobo Naglaski (Steve Forrest) visits the camp chaplain to confess his murderous feelings toward Ryan, but comes to see that the sergeant has very little time in which to do a tough job.

Ryan puts his men through increasingly tough drills; during field training, a bitter confrontation erupts between the two sergeants.

Recruit Donald Quentin Dover IV (Robert Arthur) refuses to throw a hand grenade and, after the group has bivouacked as part of more field drills, he "goes over the hill", intending to desert.

The men finish basic training, and as the new soldiers march by during their graduation exercises, Ryan proudly points them out to a fresh group of recruits.

"[4] The Army, however, cooperated fully with the studio, and location filming took place at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas.