In 1940, Canadian weapons of war including newly manufactured aircraft ordered by the British, have to be delivered to the United Kingdom. Lord Beaverbrook, head of the UK Ministry of Aircraft Production also arranged for purchase of aircraft from manufacturers in the United States. Aircraft were first transported to Dorval Airport near Montreal, and then flown to RCAF Station Gander in Newfoundland for the transatlantic flight. The initial ferry flight of seven Lockheed Hudson bombers from Gander Airport in Newfoundland took place on November 10, 1940.
The film begins with VIPs visiting the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska. During the trip, an alert is initiated by USAF's early warning radar that an unidentified flying object is making an unauthorized intrusion into American airspace. Defense protocols dictate that the SAC must always keep several bomber groups airborne 24 hours a day in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. Following the alert, bombers are ordered to proceed to predetermined aerial "fail-safe points" to await their final "go" orders before proceeding towards Soviet targets.
The American destroyer USS Bedford (DLG-113) detects a Soviet submarine in the GIUK gap near the Greenland coast. (Specifically, they are in Greenland territorial waters at the entrance to the J.C. Jacobsen Fjord, which is due northwest from Iceland.) Although the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are not at war, Captain Eric Finlander (Richard Widmark) harries his prey mercilessly, while civilian photojournalist Ben Munceford (Sidney Poitier) and NATO naval advisor, Commodore (and ex-World War II U-boat captain) Wolfgang Schrepke (Eric Portman), look on with mounting alarm.
Sur Long Island, à Huntington, Philip Landicutt mène une vie de jeune oisif. Pourtant, en Europe, la guerre fait des ravages. Au grand émoi de sa mère, Margaret Landicutt, il s’engage pour aller combattre. « Nos meilleurs hommes sont partis, je dois faire mon devoir. »
Calvin Graham (Ricky Schroder), a 12-year-old boy who looks older than his age, shows up at a naval base in uniform with a set of sealed orders. After his orders are reviewed, he is arrested (without explanation) and taken to the brig. In prison, he has a series of flashbacks during which he forges his mother's signature to enlist in the U.S. Navy, completes basic training and is assigned to the USS South Dakota (BB-57).
Lawrence Hammer (Lowe) and Dean Mazzoli (Hansen) are two Naval Officers undergoing the rigorous and demanding Navy BUD/s training program. Both men quest to become Navy SEALs. During the training Hammer is shown as cocky and not a true team player. Mazzoli is a natural leader who is respected by the other trainees. The two men clash over time due to Hammer’s attitude making a bad name for everyone. The two men’s feud eventually is seen by the training instructs and after being punished in a “military manner” the two become friends. On liberty Mazzoli takes an interest in Barbara, a known love interest and friend of Hammer’s. Barbara and Mazzoli share a romantic moment under a capsized canoe but Mazzoli breaks away before anything further happens knowing that his friend Hammer has been “with” her for a while. Later that night Hammer and Barbara elope and Mazzoli is shocked but accepts the marriage.
En 2003, en pleine guerre d'Irak, un groupe de soldats américains ont pour mission de réparer une station de pompage d'eau dans la banlieue de Bakouba, détruite par les bombes américaines. Matt Ocre, soldat inexpérimenté, découvre les mauvaises conditions de vie de la population locale, ainsi que leur colère.
L'unité de Darren Turner, un aumônier de l'armée américaine dont la vie est entièrement consacrée au service de Dieu, est envoyée en Irak . Malgré le désir de rester en contact avec leurs proches, les dures réalités de la guerre pèsent chaque jour sur le déploiement prolongé du bataillon. Lorsqu'il rentre chez lui, Darren retrouve sa femme Heather et ses trois enfants, mais le retour tant attendu des soldats est très différent de ce que prévoyaient leurs familles. Les Turners doivent décider s'ils sont prêts à faire face à une autre bataille: la lutte pour sauver leur mariage.
On November 15, 1982, Janet Harduvel (Laura Dern) is devastated by the news of the death of her husband Ted (Vincent Spano) who flew as a United States Air Force pilot in one of the world's most sophisticated fighter aircraft, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. She is stymied in finding out the truth behind his crash in Korea and takes on the US military and General Dynamics, maker of the F-16. With the help of her lawyer, Leo Morrone (Robert Loggia), and her sister Mary (Welker White), Harduvel begins the long process of unraveling the lies and deception that are behind a joint military and General Dynamics cover-up that blames the accident on pilot error. Despite setbacks, she proves to be unwavering in her search for the truth to clear his name and uncover the deadly secret buried in the F-16.
While on a routine patrol on United States airspace west of Alaska, Doug Masters and his wingman test the g-forces of their F-16C planes. Their antics get them carried away, as they stray over Soviet airspace. As they are being escorted back into U.S. airspace, one of the Soviet planes has Doug on missile-lock. Doug requests to break formation and engage the Soviet aircraft, but is denied by flight control. He is immediately shot down, but safely ejects and lands on Soviet land, where he is promptly captured by nearby soldiers.
During World War II, Hannibal Lee (Laurence Fishburne), traveling by train to Tuskegee, Alabama, is joined by other African American men from different backgrounds. At the start of their training, they are met by 2nd Lt. Glenn (Courtney B. Vance), who had joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and was credited with three kills. During training, Lewis Johns (Mekhi Phifer), and his instructor are killed when they fail to recover from a stall. Walter Peoples III (Allen Payne), who already has a pilot's license, performs an unauthorized aerobatic maneuver in order to impress Hannibal, but this results in him being removed from the training program. To avoid going home in disgrace, he commits suicide by deliberately crashing an aircraft.
Amis de longues dates, les lieutenants Dan Lynch (Trent Ford) et Will Stephensen (Morgan Spector) sont pilotes de chasse de l’avion McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C/D Hornet. Tous deux aspirent à devenir les plus jeunes pilotes acceptés dans le programme spatial. À la suite de deux accidents, l'un est dû aux troubles de la vision de Will et l’autre, l’unité fait l'objet du Service d'enquêtes criminelles de la marine (NCIS) menés par John Cokely (Michael Sirow).
The film opens on a black screen, with white letters describing the date and place, as we hear radio chatter about a "suspicious vehicle" followed by the sound of an explosion and gunfire. We then cut to see two Marines driving, wearing dress blue uniforms, to an unmarked house in the middle of the night and knocking on the door. Finally we cut to Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl (played by Kevin Bacon) searching on his computer the casualty report for the Middle East. After a couple clips of Michael running through the woods, service members' coffins getting put into an airplane, and some driving. We find the Lt. Col. at work giving a presentation to several other Marines. Then the Lt. Col. makes his way home with his family for a short while, then the camera cuts to five Marines in woodland MarPat camouflage taking US Flag draped coffins off of an airplane in the rain. After a short clip of the Lt. Col. eating dinner with his family, we find him looking at the casualty report yet again but this time he writes down some information. The movie then cuts to him in an interview with a higher ranking Marine and he asks to escort a Marine named PFC (Private First Class) Chance Phelps. He says it is because the PFC is from his hometown, then we see him discuss his choice with his wife. After he explains that he is doing this only because the PFC is from his hometown and has no other meaning, the film cuts to several people doing medical procedures on a dead body which one can assume to be PFC Phelps. After the morticians are shown, the film then cuts to the Lt. Col. leaving and telling his wife goodbye.
The USS Essex (1799) is maintaining a blockade of the port of Tripoli. General William Eaton (Herbert Heyes) comes on board to recruit a commando squad for a secret mission. Lt. Presley O'Bannon (John Payne) and Lt. Tripp (Lowell Gilmore) are selected for a raid on Derna, with the aid of native forces. Hamet Karamanly (Phillip Reed), former pasha of Derna supplies men in exchange for being restored to his throne. Countess Sheila D’Areneau (Maureen O'Hara) stays with the Pasha and everyone presumes she is his mistress, while she angles into persuading him to marry her. O'Bannon recruits a native force. O'Bannon and Countess D’Arneau meet and are attracted to each other, but both refuse to admit it to themselves. Countess D’Arneau convinces Hamet that the USA plans to turn him over to his brother, but O’Bannon gets him to change his mind. Countess D’Arneau defies O’Bannon and accompanies the expedition, but he forces her to travel with the camp followers. After a waterhole is poisoned, the expedition has to cross a dune sea to reach the next waterhole ahead of the poisoners. O’Bannon kisses the Countess and the force has to endure a sandstorm. Hamet’s brother offers him a deal, half the kingdom in return for getting rid of the Americans. They reach the coast twelve days late and the navy is not there. There is almost a mutiny before the navy arrives. Hamet tells his brother the plan of attack on Derna. When the Countess learns of this, she rides to warn O’Bannon. He leads a surprise attack on the city and captures it. O’Bannon and the Countess become a couple.
In August 1943, Lt. Commander Ben Staves (Mature), recovering from the sinking of his destroyer in battle and the loss of part of his surviving crew to shark attack, is flown to Project Shark Chaser, a tiny and isolated Naval Research Laboratory post on the Isle of Pines in Cuba. Its rich environment for sharks and indigenous English-speaking population of Caymanero fishermen makes it an ideal testing ground for the development of an effective shark repellent. The small research team has been led during its first ten months of investigation by Lt. Commander Leonard "Len" Evans (Coolidge), an ichthyologist formerly with the Scripps Institution, assisted by a chemist, Ensign "Dunk" Duncan (Olson), and a cameraman, Chief Petty Officer "Gordy" Gordon (Akins). Ben assures Evans that he is there to help him, not take over the project. When Evans tells him they'll get started "first thing in the morning," Ben counters with "Why not now?" and the team heads out into the bay on a small fishing boat crewed by a local Caymanero and his teenage son Carlos (Campos) to test copper acetate as a repellent. Evans advises that the project has already tested over 200 methods, including poisons, repulsive odors, color clouds, and ultrasonics, none of which has a lasting effect in driving away sharks. The test is initially successful until the acetate cloud dissipates after a few minutes.