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After completing a performance of their nightclub act, entertainers Hap Smith and Betsy Carter learn from their agent that Broadway producer Earl White wants to meet them.  No sooner does the bumbling Hap, who is infatuated with Betsy, hear the exciting news than he receives a telegram directing him to go to Fort Belding to participate in a secret mission.  Without a word of explanation to Betsy, Hap hops a bus to the camp and locates the snack bar where he is to rendezvous with his contact.

To his surprise, his contact is longtime friend Corp.  Chick Allen, an infantry paratrooper training at the camp.  Chick reveals that because his commanding general, W.W. Timmons, hates amateur "soldier shows," Chick, a singer, wants Hap to perform with him in the camp's upcoming revue, so Timmons will not ban any future shows.  Chick persuades Hap to impersonate Dogface Dolan, a private who is willing to go into hiding until after the show.

While wearing a "trick" uniform from his club act, Hap runs into burly Sergeant  McCluskey and infuriates him with his ignorance of Army regulations and sloppy dress.  Before McCluskey can expose Hap, Chick intercedes and convinces the sergeant that Hap's uniform is part of the camp's show.  As hoped, the show is a hit and Timmons loves Hap's buffoonery.  Timmons congratulates Hap backstage, and without thinking, Hap suggests touring the show, exactly as is.  After Timmons jumps at the idea, Chick informs Hap that, as Timmons expects to see him performing, he must now continue his impersonation or be shot as a spy.  Hap reluctantly agrees and, while the real Dogface hides in the boiler room, moves to the paratroopers' barracks.

As Dogface, Hap at first aggravates McCluskey, who has just been assigned to their unit, and tries to sneak out during the night.  The next day, however, Hap fakes his way through training and, with Chick's help, manages to impress McCluskey with his unintentional humor and parachute folding.  Later, the men are sent to perform their first show of the tour, and Dogface is almost nabbed by McCluskey on the train.

During a layover in New York, Hap seizes the opportunity to sneak away, and he and Betsy make their appointment with White.  The producer is upset to see Hap in uniform, however, and refuses to cast him while he is enlisted.  Chick then bursts in, having guessed Hap's whereabouts, and is immediately smitten by Betsy.  Chick drags Hap back to the train station, and the show goes on.

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Back at Fort Belding, Hap is forced to participate in some high-wire parachuting exercises and again impresses McCluskey, despite his terror.  McCluskey rewards Hap by promoting him to corporal and granting him a forty-eight hour pass.  Sure he will bolt for good, Chick and the other paratroopers try to stop him from leaving camp, but Hap outsmarts them.  At the train station, however, Hap is cornered by Chick, who has won his own pass in a craps game.  Hap and Chick find Betsy performing at a Servicemen's Center dance, and Chick begins to romance her.

At Fort Belding, meanwhile, Dogface is recognized by McCluskey as the mystery man on the train, and when he identifies himself as Dogface Dolan, McCluskey sends him for interrogation.  Word of Dogface's predicament reaches Hap and Chick at the center, and Chick instructs Hap to shed his uniform.  Before Hap can, however, he is named the winner of a contest, the first prize of which is a military escort back to camp.  There, Timmons learns about the Dogface mystery, but is too distracted by an upcoming joint maneuver with hated rival Gen.  Bond to investigate the matter further.

Hap resumes his impersonation and, during the joint maneuver, outsmarts Bond's men and single-handedly wins the competition for Timmons by blowing up a bridge.  Afterward, Hap confesses all to Timmons, who gives him the choice of being Corp.  Smith or being arrested for impersonating a soldier.  Hap decides to remain in the Army and is relieved when McCluskey announces during the unit's first jump that, as a corporal, he should direct the others out of the plane.  After Chick jumps, Hap falls out of the plane without his parachute, but grabs onto Chick.  Chick and Hap then land safely on a motorcycle and side car, and happily drive off together.