Bombardier

Officers of the U.S. Army Air Corps debate the importance of bombardiers at a staff meeting in Washington, D.C., in 1941. Major "Chick" Davis argues that a bombardier, using the top secret American bombsight will be the "spearhead of our striking force." Captain "Buck" Oliver argues that new pilots are the priority. Davis challenges Oliver to a "bombing duel" to test their respective points of view. Oliver, using a dive bomber, misses the stationary target, while Davis, bombing from 20,000 feet in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, hits his target with his first bomb.
As the first class nears graduation at a new bombardier training school, Davis arrives with Master Sergeant Archie Dixon to take command. Davis is discomfited by the presence of so many civilian women administrators, including Burton "Burt" Hughes, the daughter of a respected Air Corps general and now a secretary. The next cadet class arrives, including Oliver and Burt's brother Tom. Davis learns that Oliver and Burt have a romantic history and apologizes for his initial rudeness to her.
Preflight ground school reveals many shortcomings: Tom Hughes has trouble with fear-induced air sickness, Joe Connors with commitment issues, and "Chito" Rafferty with the lack of women on the base. Connors tells Davis that a spy wants to buy information from him about the secret bombsight, and they lure the spy into a trap where he is arrested. When a bomber crew must bail out from a plane with mechanical problems, Tom panics and refuses to jump. His friend, another suitor of Burt's, Cadet Jim Carter, crash-lands the aircraft, and claims he was the one who panicked. Hughes confesses afterward but successfully persuades Davis to give him a second chance.
On another flight, Oliver passes out from anoxia, nearly tossing Carter out of the opened bomb bay without a parachute. Tom falls to his death saving Carter's life. Guilt-stricken and unable to face Burt, Oliver transfers out of the school. Shortly after, America enters the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Davis, promoted to colonel, becomes a B-17 group commander, and awkwardly proposes marriage to Burt who turns him down. New bombardiers Carter, Connors, Rafferty, and Harris leave for a secret island base in the Pacific, and Burt passionately kisses Jim Carter goodbye, revealing her choice.
Oliver, now a major, joins the group and is assigned to a night mission to bomb an aircraft factory in Nagoya. Oliver is tasked with dropping incendiaries to set the target on fire a half hour before the arrival of the group, which Davis will lead at high altitude. Joe Connors is Oliver's bombardier and Sergeant Dixon his tailgunner. Flying low, Oliver's bomber is shot down before he can drop his bombs, and Connors remains at his post, sacrificing his life to destroy the bombsight.
Oliver's crew is captured. Their Japanese captors execute the other crew members to coerce Oliver and Dixon into revealing the location of their base, but Dixon overwhelms his guard and is machine gunned attempting to escape. The shots also set fire to a gasoline truck. Oliver drives the burning truck through the factory, setting fire to its camouflage netting and fulfills his mission, knowing he will be killed in the bomb raid. The B-17 group fights off Japanese fighters and successfully destroys the target.