Great article in CNN today on Buttigieg’s time in the military. There is a CNN video on the same topic. No surprise that Buttigieg’s colleagues in the military offered nothing but praise of him:
A dozen people who served alongside Buttigieg in the Naval Reserves and in Afghanistan, who spoke to CNN, described him as mature and, yes, ambitious. But several said he was hardly alone on that front, particularly in a reserve unit filled with prosecutors, FBI agents and other hard-charging officers.
McRae, who traveled to Afghanistan and back to the US with Buttigieg in 2014, said his friend not only learned a new language, but took an interest in local cultures and studied Afghanistan proverbs.
….
Several others serving alongside Buttigieg, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had largely positive assessments of his service. They said he didn't stand out, necessarily, until they had conversations with him. After he announced he was gay in a South Bend newspaper column after returning from Afghanistan, people in his unit were surprised, but supportive.
"Nobody had a problem with him," one reservist said. "We knew he was a Democrat and a mayor with ambitions. The only negative thing I can say is that we lost him. The unit would have been stronger if he had stayed."
One of his commanders also went on the record with praise:
Lt. Charles Murray, one of the leaders of the unit to which Buttigieg was assigned, said the young reservist stood out from the beginning as an "engaged and astute critical thinker." He said Buttigieg was mature and poised, but did not seem to be in the reserves for the wrong reasons.
"I've seen folks there for a paycheck and nothing else. I've seen others do it just because it makes them look better personally or professional," Murray said in an interview. "He never struck me as either of those."
Mayor Pete himself explained his motivation for entering the military:
As a volunteer for Barack Obama's campaign in Iowa 12 years ago, he said he felt guilty that so many young people in rural communities were signing up for the Army or National Guard.
"I might have dragged my feet on it forever if I hadn't had that experience in Iowa and just realizing that some communities were almost emptying out their youth in the military and some were barely serving at all," Buttigieg told CNN. "And I wanted to be on the right side of that gap.
And he also explained why he mentions his military service on the campaign trail:
"It helps me demonstrate the difference between how I'm oriented and how the current President is," Buttigieg said in an interview here Thursday about his military service. "We responded to the country's call to serve in very different ways."
Amen to that.