WHITING FIELD, Fla. (AP) - When Deborah Kieszek had a bad day in flight training at Whiting Field Naval Air Station, she fell back on an easy excuse - blaming her identical twin sister. Lt. j.g. Deborah Kieszek and Lt. j.g. Christa Kieszek earned their wings Friday with 14 other new Navy aviators.
``When we'd fly with an instructor, they didn't know if they'd flown with me or her,'' Deborah Kieszek said. ``I always tell everyone, if it was a bad flight, it was her.''
It is rare for siblings to earn their wings at the same time, Navy officials said.
The 24-year-old twins from Jackson, Tenn., are heading to San Diego before getting assignments that will separate them for 2 years, the longest they have ever spent apart.
Both women will fly helicopters - Deborah from San Diego and Christa from Atsugi, Japan.
The twins, whose parents died in a motorcycle crash when they were 4, were raised by their grandparents, Robert and Ann McDermott.
Their career choice marks the third generation of aviation in the family. Robert McDermott flew for the Air Force and Federal Express. Robert Kieszek, the twins' father, was an airline mechanic.
The twins, Vanderbilt University graduates, will miss being together.
``We do everything together,'' Christa Kieszek said. ``She's a part of my every day.''
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