'It's Critically Important': Craig Day & Reagan Ledbetter Meet With Oklahoma Army National Guard On NATO Mission

Several members of the Oklahoma Army National Guard are in southeastern Europe this week, helping with a NATO peacekeeping mission.

And two of our own are joining them there. News on 6's Craig Day and Reagan Ledbetter joined News On 6 from Kosovo to tell us about the trip.

Craig: About 50 members of the Oklahoma Army National Guard and combat helicopter battalion that are here for on deployment in Kosovo, they've been here for quite some time. And they'll be here through this fall. So we're an Oklahoma own company. We wanted to come do stories on these Oklahomans who are here serving our country and in serving, in a broader perspective peacekeeping efforts around the world.

Reagan: They're part of a helicopter battalion. So most of the people that are here from Oklahoma are in the aviation unit. So they're doing missions that are tied to aviation and stuff. So tomorrow morning, we're heading out to the base camp Bondsteel, and we're gonna actually get to see one of these operations in action and see what these service members are doing.

Cooper: How important are missions like this? I mean, I know that there's been some political instability there for decades. You guys aren't far from Ukraine. So how important is it that Oklahomans are there and are on the ground helping them out?

Craig: It's critically important because Kosovo really is Europe's youngest country. There are 27 nations represented here as part of the NATO peacekeeping force and Kosovo's internal national security forces, basically, their army, they only have 10,000 active duty personnel and 5000 reserves and they're a very small country, about a third of the size of Oklahoma, Pristina, where we're located is about the size of Tulsa, and this is the capital city, but overall, their population of I believe like, 1.6 million people so much smaller, even just in the state of Oklahoma. So they rely on these other nations just for their internal national security, and sovereignty.

Reagan: We've been talking with people, you know, out and about go to dinner and stuff. And people asked, obviously, we're from America, people can tell and they're, you know, where are you from? We say Oklahoma, and you think they wouldn't know where that was? They react like "Oklahoma!" they know what that is. And they know that there are Oklahomans and Americans that are here, helping protect them and keep the peace here. And so it's a unique thing. It's a very bustling city. I mean, people are doing good, but they're very appreciative that Americans in Oklahoma specifically are here on the ground helping them out.

Cooper: Yeah, we have some we have some pictures, and we want to show them so tell us real quick what you guys have been up to so far. I know you guys got there a day or two ago but what have you guys seen what have you guys been a part of Craig I saw you eat like a sausage or something. I don't know if it was fish underneath it or what but it looked very unique.

Craig: To me, it was every kind of meat you can imagine on one plate basically. sausages, big on stage, big on beef chicken was on that plate.

Reagan: So basically, every place you go to here, you kind of choose like a meat platter. And they're very big on bread too. So every meal we've had we've had loaves of bread, it's excellent. But lots of carbs. That's why put on 10 pounds. Every place they serve loaves of bread with vinegar and oil. And so every meal, you have that. And then the meat platters they have I mean, you can bring out a ladder of need. It's it's sausage, beef, it's chicken. I mean, you name it, and they just bring up this big platter. And that's what they eat.

Craig: And the cost of living is like 71% less than the United States somewhere in that neighborhood. So, you know, steak is like $14.

Reagan: You know, we got to fillet dinners last night and a total of like 30 bucks for both of us. So it's completely different. Today we spent mostly getting some scenery shots of Pristina and the surrounding suburbs to really kind of get an idea of what this area is like for our story that's coming up.

Cooper: right, and we're looking forward to that story. Be safe there. Enjoy the food. I'm jealous of the food. The bread sounds great. The steak sounds great. So be safe and we'll look forward to your stories. So see you guys later.

Craig: Okay, much heavier Craig and Regan. We'll see you soon.