ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Retired Army Lt. Colonel Bill Carr said he doesn't feel like a veteran. Maybe because he's still serving - though not in the military, but at a local high school instead. For the past five years he's been giving hundreds of Rochester kids some of the life skills that helped him find purpose when he was struggling himself as a teenager. "I see myself in a lot of these kids, especially the ones that aren't focused the ones that get in trouble a lot that was me," Carr said. Carr is a junior ROTC instructor with the Rochester City School District. Over the past five years, hundreds of cadets have passed through the program and leadership classes, but only a handful actually enlist in the military. Carr said that's just fine. "It's not so much the recruiting part, but teaching them more on how to be responsible, self-accountable and get them ready to be in their leadership roles that nobody's going to teach them about," he explained. When talking with instructors this month, we learned the cadets had been training for a National competition at Fort Knox. "There's 320 teams nationwide. In the state of New York, seven high schools are sending teams and we just happen to be one of them," Carr said. "At Fort Knox there's actually a river that they have to cross...you got one person that has to volunteer to get wet they run the rope across the river and the rest of them use those swiss seats that you see them tying in and hook onto the bridge and they pull themselves across almost like a pulley." P Photos courtesy of Lt. Carr. Through the program, teens like Sophomore Adrian Millington gain exposure to places, events and people they might not see on a daily basis. Before enrolling in Rochester Early College International High School, Adrian said he knew nothing about the military or JROTC. Now, he's encouraging his fellow cadets. "During the orientation, I saw a bunch of people walk in with those fancy uniforms and I was like 'I got to join,'" he said. "A program like this is really what got me focused. I don't know, I was going nowhere fast in my freshman year." After a successful 30-year career in the military, this veteran is now committed to serving young people. Helping them build a bridge to a productive and rewarding life after high school. The cadets just returned from that competition in Fort Knox. Lt. Carr said while they didn't place, they did finish all the events, and in less than a week. He said he watched young people who couldn't necessarily get along, turn into a well-organized team.