The Only Lieutenant

A young physician Jesse Jamison enters his obligated service in the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant during the peacetime lull between the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Working in a poorly-heated antiquated dispensary building, he tries to improve working conditions by alterations to the building. His corpsman and a military carpenter achieve the change, but in so doing incur multiple minor catastrophes such as a small electrical fire and an allergic reaction to fire ant stings. Repeated surreptitious alterations of the dispensary sign to read a vulgar epithet nag the staff constantly. Jamison's work load is relieved by the addition of another medical officer to the dispensary staff. But this also produces additional complications since the new officer is a female, and jealous suspicions on the part of Jamison's wife escalate to the point of her departure to visit her mother. The chief corpsman in the dispensary along with his poker-playing buddies from the motor pool succeed in obtaining scrapped army vehicles including a jeep, truck and finally a tank. Their ingenuity parlays the vehicles into a real business, i.e. "Tank, Inc." by getting army contracts to remove condemned buildings, involving the public with a fund drive to benefit the local hospital and finally to demolish a downtown building using explosives. Jamison fishes with his buddies, frets over the antics of his enlisted men at a local strip joint, and goes on field duty to fight a flood. He manages to save his marriage, and survives his tour of duty by truly serving, but leaves a minor legacy of mischief.