An Officer and a Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American romantic drama film directed by Taylor Hackford from a screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, and starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr. It tells the story of Zack Mayo (Gere), a United States Navy Aviation Officer Candidate who is beginning his training at Aviation Officer Candidate School. While Zack meets his first true girlfriend during his training, a young "townie" named Paula (Winger), he also comes into conflict with the hard-driving Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett) training his class.
Plot
After his mother's suicide, adolescent Zachary "Zack" Mayo was sent to live with his father Byron, an alcoholic, womanizing US Navy petty officer stationed in the Philippines. Now a college graduate, Zack (much to Byron's surprise) reports to Fort Rainier, an Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) located near Port Townsend, Washington.