Honorably discharged Army Ranger sergeant Cameron Poe returns home to his pregnant wife Tricia following a series of combat deployments during Operation Desert Storm. However, he is sentenced to seven to ten years in prison for unintentionally killing a drunken man – one of three who tried to attack him and Tricia. While in prison, Poe communicates with Tricia and his newborn daughter Casey through letters; eight years later, he is paroled and boards a flight to Alabama on board the "Jailbird", a Fairchild C-123 Provider converted into a flying prison transport. Poe is accompanied by his diabetic cellmate and friend Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell, who is being transferred. The flight is overseen by U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin, who is approached by DEA agents Duncan Malloy and Willie Sims, the latter planning to go undercover to get information from drug lord Francisco Cindino, who is to be picked up en route.