Two fighter pilots (Devane and Bostwick) who flew together in Vietnam are assigned to the elite Air Force Fighter Weapons School (known as "Red Flag") at Nellis AFB, Nevada about a decade after the war. Brash, self-confident Devane is an instructor, while quieter, family man Bostwick is the student. At first, the two men resume their friendship. But as the student starts to show the master a thing or two, tensions develop. Can their relationship survive the stresses of one of the military's top schools?