Twenty years ago on a lovely spring day in May, two baby girls came into the world 18 minutes apart. Jim and Karen English of Georgia welcomed their twin girls, Jordan and Michaela, into their family. Since they were in the womb, Jordan and Michaela have had an incredibly close and special bond that only twins can relate to. Throughout their lives, they had not spent more than two days apart from one another. That is, until they both made the decision to follow in the valiant footsteps of many of their family members, and they joined the Army.

Jordan and Michaela's father, Jim, served in the Army National Guard, which inspired the women to the thought of military service. Both of their grandfathers, great uncle and cousin have all served in the Army. Jordan and Michaela wanted to do something meaningful with their lives, so they answered the call of duty to serve with open arms, open hearts, and the full support of their family.

Jordan left for basic training on Aug. 10, 2015 at Fort Jackson with her sister, Michaela, following Oct. 26 of the same year. Considering they had never been apart for an extended period of time, being separated was a heartbreaking experience for the both of them. Following their graduation from basic training, both women again ended up at the same post, Fort Lee, in order to complete their Advanced Individual Training (AIT). Their reunion at Fort Lee was understandably joyous and their barracks coincidentally were right across from one another. Jordan would become a 91S, a Stryker System Maintainer, and Michaela would become a 91B, an All Wheeled Mechanic. "It was nice spending time together at AIT with my sister," said Jordan. "For the longest time, we thought it was going to be the last time we were together for a while."

After AIT, Jordan was assigned her first duty station: Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The women prepared to not see each other or be near one another for quite some time. Michaela, who had not yet been assigned a duty station and who had a few weeks left of AIT, found herself saddened to see her sister move out to the west coast. The two women celebrated their 20th birthday separately for the first time in their lives. But the day after their birthday would deliver the best birthday news either of the women could hope for: Michaela was also being stationed at JBLM. "It was the best birthday present, ever," said Jordan.

Today, both PFC Jordan Barrett and PV2 Michaela English have settled into their units, 2-2 14th BEB and the 201 MI, respectively.  "We were both really nervous to be apart; it was hard for a really long time," said Michaela. "But we are super blessed to be able to have this time together at our first duty station." Both Jordan and her husband, Andrew, enjoy being able to spend so much family time with Michaela in their new Washington home. "It is so cool to see them together again," said Andrew. "They are such a big part of each other's lives; they share such a special bond, especially being twins."

Both Jordan and Michaela have future goals of eventually going to college and furthering their education after they serve in the Army, however long that may be. For now, they are enjoying the funny way that fate allowed them to remain physically close to one another as they serve our country. As twins, they will always share an unbreakable bond that cannot be broken no matter where the future takes them.