Col. Nathan Jessup was a high-ranking office in the United States Army. He was based in Gitmo, and army in Cuba and he had a code of ethics that he and his men followed. A Private Santiago was in his command and he was basically a screw up. Col. Jessup does not tolerate screw-ups and the Col. took care of Santiago by ordering two soldiers to do an illegal act called a “Code Red”. What they did was actually murder Santiago on Jessup’s orders; and now the two officers were being charged with his murder, but a cover up was to follow and Jessup would show his true colors in the confrontation between Jessup and Kaffee in the final scene of movie.