Retired Air Force Sergeant Robert Madden thought the war was behind him, but as he entered Tres Rios, New Mexico, a new war was just beginning. On his way to California to pursue a doctorate in education, a run-in with the local drug lord halts all of his plans. To escape from a corrupt police force and legal action, Madden is given a choice in punishment—state prison or a year of teaching troubled kids at the local rural school.