During the Vietnam War, a squad of National Guardsmen -- including Hardin (Powers Boothe), a no-nonsense Texan; Reece (Fred Ward), a hunter; and Spencer (Keith Carradine), a sensible private -- take part in a military training exercise in the swamps of Louisiana. After attempting to steal several canoes and firing blanks at a Cajun, the group members find themselves being hunted by the locals. Scared and unfamiliar with the territory, the men must scramble to escape.