<P> An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American romantic drama film starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger and Louis Gossett Jr., who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, making him the first African American to do so . It tells the story of Zack (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 local young woman named Paula (Winger), he also comes into conflict with the hard - driving Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant (Gossett Jr .), the drill instructor training his class . </P> <P> The film was written by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Taylor Hackford . Its title is an old expression from the Royal Navy and later from the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice's charge of "conduct unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman" (from 1860). The film was commercially released in the U.S. on August 13, 1982 . It was well received by critics, with a number calling it the best film of 1982 . It also was a financial success, grossing $130 million against a $6 million budget . </P> <P> Zachary "Zack" Mayo is preparing to report to Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS). As he is doing so, he has brief flashbacks of his childhood . After the death of his mother, who committed suicide, an adolescent Zack was sent to live with his only living relative, his father Byron Mayo, who is stationed in US Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines . The elder Mayo, a Navy Chief Petty Officer / Chief Boatswain's Mate, made no attempt to hide his heavy drinking and hiring of prostitutes from a young Zack . When Zack said he needed help, Byron said he did not ask to get married nor be a father, because he is always out on sea all the time . But seeing the look on his face, he decides to let him stay with him . Mostly Zack became a Navy brat and travelled with his father . </P> <P> The flashbacks advance to the present, where Zack has just graduated from college and informs his father he will be going to AOCS . Byron, who hates officers, tells Zack that his dream of becoming an officer is as unrealistic as hoping to become President . Despite his father's discouragement, Zack is determined to go through with his childhood dreams of becoming a Navy pilot as well as prove to him that he can make it and in the end Byron would have to "salute" Zack . Upon arrival at AOCS, Zack and his fellow AOCs are shocked by the harsh treatment they receive from their head drill instructor, Marine Gunnery Sergeant, Emil Foley . Foley makes it clear that the 13 - week program is designed to eliminate OCs who are found to be mentally or physically unfit for commission as an ensign in the U.S. Navy, which will earn them flight training worth over $1,000,000 . Foley warns the male candidates about the "Puget Sound Debs"--young women in the area who dream of marrying a Naval Aviator to escape their dull, local lives . Foley claims they scout the regiment for OCs, and will feign pregnancy or even stop using birth control to become pregnant to trap the men . </P>

Who dies in an officer and a gentleman
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