Having failed to destroy a German U-boat base after multiple attempts, Colonel Hollenbeck is relieved of his command of the 52nd Bomb Group and reassigned to the 918th as General Doud's liaison with the hope he might redeem himself by helping Gallagher knock out the target. However, he uses Gallagher's absence from Archbury to take command of the mission, only to fail yet again. During the attack, Major Stovall spots a U-boat heading for a different destination than their target and leaves formation to investigate, but with his radio out of commission, he fails to hear Hollenbeck's order to return and is subsequently shot down. Now under extreme pressure due to his repeated failures, Hollenbeck tries to divert attention from himself by bringing charges against Stovall. Based on his adjutant's sighting, Gallagher becomes convinced that they have been bombing the wrong location all along, but now he has to prove it and clear Stovall.