Mike Zurich steps out of the cab and sees an entryway inscribed, "Through these doors walks the future of the Navy," before he's told by a man in camouflage to join the other candidates. Thus begins his life at the U.S. Navy's Officer Candidate School: unceremoniously and without hesitation. Zurich and the rest of the candidates in Indoctrination Class Zero-Four-Zero-Zero are soon engulfed by a world of discipline and regimen as they undergo step-by-step training in physical exercise, naval academics and military instruction.