Kentucky teens that repeatedly get into trouble with the law get a chance to turn their lives around.

The boot camp program in Breathitt County is proving to be a success while others around the country are shutting down.

They push the limits of both their bodies and their minds for four months.

“You do what you're supposed to here, makes the time go by a lot easier,” Eddie Combs said.

Drug and alcohol abuse sent 17-year-old Knott County native Eddie Combs to the Cadet Leadership and Education Program and what a difference it's made.

“I really didn't have no plans before I came here. All I thought about was using drugs, using alcohol,” Combs said.

Now Combs says he's lucky to be part of this dying breed of boot camp programs.

“Around the country they've been shutting down boot camps because they determined that they did not work. Kentucky is a little bit different in that we have a treatment program where we work on relationships with the kids,” Gary Sewell said.

It's only nine years old, but so far the work has paid off.

A study by Eastern Kentucky University followed graduates from earlier years and found 78 percent were leading productive lives and obeying the law.

Gary Sewell says the national success rate is less than 50 percent.

Cadet Combs will test for his GED on Thursday and while other students in the mountains head back to school, Combs is looking forward to his graduation this fall, and heading off to the national guard.

“I'm just looking forward to going on and facing my challenges,” Combs said.

He's sweating out the tough stuff here, to make his family proud.

Wednesday we'll take a look at the transition the boys make after they complete boot camp and hear from a Perry County teen who says he doesn't want to come home.