The plot revolves around Shale (Berenger), a mercenary and a Vietnam veteran who goes undercover as a high school teacher in Miami to combat a gang. In the beginning of the film Shale comes home from a disastrous mission where three of his men were killed in an operation in Cuba. He arrives in Miami to find out that a knee-cap attack has left his girlfriend Jane Hetzko with a broken leg. Shale decides to play the part of a Harvard-educated substitute teacher and recruit his former soldiers (Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzmán, Richard Brooks, and William Forsythe) in order to find the culprits. While teaching history, Shale crosses paths with "Kings of Destruction" (KOD) gang leader Juan Lacas (Marc Anthony). Shale realizes that Lacas is responsible for Jane's attack, but that is just the tip of the iceberg of his nefarious activities. Shale's team infiltrates the school and sets up military surveillance gear throughout the bathrooms and corridors which lead to the discovery that Lacas is in cahoots with principal Rolle (Ernie Hudson) to use the school buses and their secret storage compartments as conduits for a heroin distribution ring in the greater Miami area.
Shale fought in what war?
Vietnam