>> well, i think at a moment when obviously people are looking for contrasts it helps me demonstrate the difference between how i'm oriented and how the current president is. >> reporter: jason mccray still remembers the day he met buttigieg at their training in south carolina. he didn't know the man assigned to be his battle buddy was also an indiana mayor. >> one of my early memories is he had an ear bud in and he was learning a language, i think it was dari. i don't remember other folks that were picking up a language at that point in time. >> reporter: he was interested in afghanistan, was studying and consuming everything about it. >> yeah, for sure. >> reporter: a dozen people who served alongside buttigieg in the 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. >> to go through a deployment in afghanistan is probably less dangerous ways to check the box. >> reporter: mccray and his wife sue are watching their friend's campaign from afar with interest. >> when i first met pete it was just a wife going to say