WEEKEND WARRIORS

In 1961, shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion, another world crisis with the Soviets looms in Berlin. A motley group of Hollywood actors, writers, stuntmen, makeup artists, and various studio personnel have avoided being drafted into regular military service. The misfit group, led by Hollywood screenwriter Vince Tucker, have joined the California Air National Guard's air transport wing, the 73rd, volunteering one weekend a month as "weekend warriors" in order to keep themselves safely at home.

They run afoul of visiting Congressman Ernest W. Balljoy when he comes upon one of their questionable and tasteless pranks while touring the airbase. In retaliation, to remove them from his district, he announces in a national press release that they are ready to be called up for active Air Force duty to meet the looming Soviet threat in Berlin. (In actuality, Balljoy will see to it that they are transferred to the isolated Pacific island where the U.S. stores its atomic warheads.) Now faced with having to pass a full Air National Guard readiness inspection or be drafted, Tucker and his Hollywood cronies must come up with a plan that will thwart Balljoy and insure they remain only weekend warriors.

Using their professional Hollywood connections and showbiz skills, they execute a lavish deception plan conceived by Tucker. Having hired other Hollywood studio professionals, and with Vince acting as their "director", they put on a show like no other for the reviewing Air Force brass and visiting dignitaries. Using old fashioned Hollywood magic, they portray themselves as "The Fighting 73rd," just an average (read: crack, more than ready for action) Air National Guard transport unit. They succeed in impressing the Air Force brass, an astonished Congressman Balljoy, and a taciturn visiting Romanian ambassador, who will quickly report back to the Soviets on America's military readiness during this time of international crisis. Sometime later, the victorious 73rd celebrates their "Hollywood Air Force" propaganda victory at a raucous "back to civies" blow-out bash in Las Vegas.

The group successfully uses their Hollywood skills to stage a convincing display for the Air Force brass, impressing officials and outmaneuvering Congressman Balljoy, then celebrates their victory in Las Vegas.

By leveraging their backgrounds in show business, the misfits transform a looming threat of conscription into an opportunity to showcase ingenuity and satire. Their elaborate ruse not only protects their comfortable lives but also pokes fun at military bureaucracy and Cold War paranoia, ending the film on a note of rowdy triumph and comedic relief as they return to civilian revelry.