Two irrepressible young U.S. Navy carrier pilots, while flying a night combat mission over the Adriatic Sea, (circa 2007), are struck by lightning and subsequently collide. One ejects from his stricken airplane and the other ditches his in the water. They wash ashore separately and reunite the following day on a wild Albanian mountainside. In the ensuing week they are pursued by an Albanian Army search party while a U.S. Navy SEAL Team, operating from a submarine, tries to rescue them. The first rescue attempt succeeds but only because one of the pilots sacrifices himself by drawing fire from the Albanian forces. He is captured in the shoot-out. The second rescue attempt is successful and the two battle-hardened young men redeem themselves by their heroic actions. For their efforts they receive a field promotion at a special Whitehouse award ceremony.