Photo By Cpl. Jesse Davis | U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Austin Cusson, a logistics specialist with Headquarters...... read more read more
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For months, the trash-talk between the twin brothers was relentless. Cpl. Austin Cusson had made the meritorious corporal board first, and he didn’t let his brother, Cpl. Andrew Cusson, forget it.
“I’m going to be a corporal before you,” Austin taunted. “I’m better.” Austin took second place on that board, but his second chance aligned perfectly with Andrew’s upcoming board. The sibling ribbing was instant and relentless. "Did you win yet? No? You suck," Andrew joked with Austin.
The brotherly competition that had defined their entire lives, from bootcamp to the fleet, was now laser-focused on one of the most sacred milestones in an enlisted Marine’s career: earning the title of Non-Commissioned Officer.
Then, the calls came. First Andrew, then Austin. They had both been selected. On June 2nd, standing side-by-side aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, the two Marines who had started their journey together pinned on the rank of corporal, turning a lifetime of friendly competition into a shared victory.
“This one just feels like it means a lot more,” said Austin, a logistics specialist with Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division. “As soon as I got told that I won, I called him. I said, ‘Guess what?’ He said, ‘You lost.’ I’m like, ‘No, we’re promoting together next week!’”
Their journey has been a masterclass in shared drive. During recruit training at Parris Island, where they were one of three sets of identical twins in their platoon, the rivalry was constant. Who ran faster, who did more pull-ups, who was the better squad leader.
“I was a squad leader at first, and I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re under me, I’m your boss,’” Austin recalled with a laugh. “During [Marine Combat Training], it was who could dig a fighting hole faster, who could buddy rush faster. It’s all the little stuff that just makes it fun.”
That bond was tested for the first time when they were separated for their respective job training schools. The distance between them was no longer measured by bunks down the squad bay, now, by thousands of miles across the country. Andrew shipped to the West Coast to train as a light armored reconnaissance Marine at the School of Infantry–West aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, while Austin remained on the East Coast, learning the logistics trade at Camp Johnson, North Carolina.
“It was definitely tough,” Austin admitted. “That was the first time in our entire lives we’ve ever been apart for more than a couple of days.”
Though their roles in the Marine Corps are now vastly different, Andrew in the field with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, and Austin managing the moving parts of the Division, ending up at Camp Lejeune together was a stroke of luck they don’t take for granted. It allows them to continue the feedback loop that has sharpened them both.
“He’ll run a [physical training] in the morning, and I’ll run one too, and we’ll talk about it,” Austin explained. “We ask, ‘How can I do this better?’ Having someone there you can always ask is a huge advantage.” That unique relationship blends two of the most powerful bonds a person can have: family and the Corps. “There’s the brotherly side of it, and then there’s the Marine Corps brotherhood,” Austin reflected. “It just really amps it up when you have somebody that looks, talks, and sounds just like you. But he’s my brother at the end of the day. I can talk to him, and we can be 100% real with each other.”
For Andrew, the shared promotion isn’t an end goal, but another step in their parallel paths of self-improvement. “I’m never satisfied. There’s never one specific achievement,” Andrew said, noting his next goal is meritorious sergeant. “But being promoted alongside my brother, that’s something truly special. The brotherhood in the Marines is stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced. Having my actual brother here pushes me to be better.”
| Date Taken: | 06.19.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2026 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 568241 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Mirror Image of Leadership: Twin Marines Turn Lifelong Rivalry into NCO Stripes, by 2LT Daniel Starozytnyk, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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