Outpost

A narrator explains that the United States maintains far-flung military outposts with diligent sentinels. The film introduces a tiny Pacific island outpost where Private Snafu rests under a single palm tree, accompanied only by a local bird. The sense of boredom and isolation sets the stage for his later actions.

Snafu laments 249 days on the island without combat and complains about the lack of action. The bird remains his sole companion as he mutters about his boredom. A radio message announces that his 249th transfer request has been denied.

Snafu and the bird fall asleep and dream about girls, a welcome distraction from duty. Their dreams become tangled and chaotic, and Snafu wakes irate, threatening the bird for insubordination. The moment underscores the fragility of their routine existence.

The bird locates a floating can of food and eagerly approaches it, hoping for a meal. He discovers the label reads Pickled Fish Eyes with Rice and nearly discards the can before noticing the bottom text revealing it is Hon. K Ration Imperial Japanese Navy. The discovery introduces a provocative twist linking food, war, and enemy intelligence.

Snafu dismisses the find and orders the bird to bury the can, treating it as mere trash. The Japanese Navy label complicates the object, yet he remains unfazed and continues with his routine. The scene foreshadows how ordinary details can reveal military intelligence.

Back at the command level, the U.S. military tracks a Japanese task force using reference points until observation posts lose track. The officers then call all posts to provide a full report of the situation. The tension between routine monitoring and unexpected findings drives the plot.

Snafu repeats the day’s mundane log entries aloud, and his superior radios him to recite the tin-can detail again and confirm its description. The exchange shows how a trivial find can trigger a critical military response. The moment highlights the disconnect between Snafu’s laziness and the importance of accurate reporting.

The bird digs up the buried can, and Snafu reports its contents, including the Japanese information. The exchange turns a mundane discovery into a piece of intelligence that informs the enemy’s fate. The scene blends humor with the underlying stakes of information accuracy.

American bombers arrive and bomb the Japanese fleet into oblivion. The raid demonstrates the power of air superiority and the rapid transformation of the battlefield. Snafu remains oblivious to the fleet’s annihilation, continuing his everyday routine.

The day ends with Snafu and the bird on the tiny beach, and he again remarks his boredom about the army’s duties. He tosses the can of pickled fish eyes with rice into the ocean, signaling a bitter resignation to his monotonous posting. The closing image underscores the gap between war’s enormity and his petty grievance.