Army Private Franklin Bean (Charlie Sheen), a defiant loner, is thrown into the stockade with five black prisoners known as the Soul Patrol. The group's leader is Roosevelt Stokes, a street-smart veteran of the system played by Fishburne. The stockade commander, a bigoted sergeant (Martin Sheen), does not discriminate in his hardass approach to discipline: He busts Bean's chops and is cruel to the black men. Bean eventually earns the respect of his fellow prisoners and they bond in brotherhood and solidarity against the hateful sergeant.