People approaching Sierra Dinndorf at the Federal Law-Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) seemed to know her already. They greeted her like an old friend, she said, only to learn that they worked with her identical twin, Kaitlyn.
The mistake was understandable. The sisters share a face, an Air Force upbringing and now, a profession. Both serve as Special Agents with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, investigating cases more than 1,700 miles apart.
Kaitlyn is assigned to Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, where she supports counterintelligence work involving research, development and acquisition. Meanwhile, Sierra works at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, investigating criminal investigations, including violent-crime cases.
The distance has given them something identical twins do not always receive, they said, which is room to be known separately.
“For now, I’m glad we’re in different places,” Sierra said. “It gives each of us the space to figure out the kind of Special Agent we want to be without being defined by the other.”
Growing up
The Dinndorf twins grew up in Bedford, New Hampshire, in an Air Force family.
Their father was a physicist, and their mother was a human-factors systems engineer who taught at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) when Kaitlyn and Sierra were born. Although the family moved east when the girls were three, their mother continued returning to USAFA as a reservist.
Their older brother later graduated from the academy and became an HC-130 pilot. Shortly after, Kaitlyn and Sierra followed his tracks to USAFA, earning their bachelor’s degrees in 2024. Their younger sister is now a USAFA cadet. But it was their brother’s experience that later gave them a closer view of cadet life.
“Seeing the opportunities my brother had at the academy made the decision clear,” Kaitlyn said. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s where I want to go.’”
Growing up, the twins gravitated toward many of the same activities, they said, like soccer, swimming, track and cross-country.
At USAFA, they continued the pattern, joining the club hockey team and participating in triathlons during their first two years. The overlap, Sierra said, was not a matter of one sister following the other.
“It wasn’t a matter of Kaitlyn choosing something and me following her,” Sierra said. “We had many of the same interests, and when we pursued them independently, we often ended up in the same place.”
That dynamic followed them into similar academic paths, but their interest in AFOSI developed for different reasons. Both studied geospatial science and earned certificates in geospatial intelligence, experiences that drew Sierra toward intelligence and counterintelligence work.
“I think we both kind of fell in love with the counterintelligence world,” she said, “and were looking for ways that we could really make an impact.”
Becoming agents
After graduating in 2024, Kaitlyn entered AFOSI right away. Sierra went on to earn a master’s degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology before beginning her own career as a Special Agent.
Their decisions were not coordinated, they said. Each was independently drawn to an organization whose work spans criminal investigations, counterintelligence and the protection of Department of the Air Force people and assets.
Working at different detachments has also made the sisters’ useful sounding boards for one another, they said. They often compare experiences, offer perspective and share what they are learning in different parts of the AFOSI mission.
“There are parts of this work you can’t necessarily want to explain to everyone,” Sierra said. “Kaitlyn understands the pressures and experiences that come with the job, so she’s someone I can talk to.”
For now, their careers are developing along different tracks. But both hope to deploy and eventually take command, they said.
“I want to build a reputation based on the work I do, and I want Sierra to have that same opportunity,” Kaitlyn said. “What she accomplishes should be recognized on its own, because she earned it on her own.”
Their separate assignments give them room to build distinct reputations, they said, though both would welcome serving closer together someday.
For all they share, they want each career to belong to the sister who built it.
| Date Taken: | 07.20.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.20.2026 13:45 |
| Story ID: | 570335 |
| Location: | QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | BEDFORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
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This work, Identical twins, Special Agents, carve out AFOSI careers, by Thomas Brading, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
