When Lt. "Wild Bill" Traynor, bad boy of the Marine Corps, arrives at a San Diego Marine Base, he is surprised to discover he has been assigned to duty under his old rival, Captain Benton (Conrad Nagel). While eluding the advances of Rosita (Armida), a Latin dancer, Bill becomes involved with Benton's fiancee, Dorothy Manning (Esther Ralston), whom he quickly wins and Benton accepts the impending marriage. On his wedding eve, Bill, in the company of Rosita, becomes involved in a fracas in a gambling joint in nearby Tia Juana. Rosita disappears and Dorothy calls off the wedding. As Dorthy sails for Latin America, Bill resigns in disgrace from the Marines, but re-enters as a Private. Ordered to duty in Ponta Miguel, Bill discovers that Dorothy's father (Hale Hamilton) is the governor. His old nemesis Benton has Bill sent to the guardhouse and Bill is vowing revenge when he is released, only to find that Benton is being held prisoner by a jungle bandit known as The Torch (George Regas.) Posing as a drunk and renegade, Bill enters the bandit's camp and, by mending a disabled machine gun, wins the confidence of the bandit leader. Bill later mans the gun against the bandits who have prepared a trap for the Marine patrol searching for Benton.