Looking for a way out of their mundane government jobs, Austin Millbarge (Dan Aykroyd) and Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chevy Chase) take the entrance exam for a CIA espionage program. Immediately chosen to take part in a top-secret mission in the Middle East by the officious Gen. Sline (Steve Forrest), the new recruits are set upon by Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Soon it becomes clear that the hapless pair are being used as decoys to expose the Russians for a Cold War nuclear showdown.