Meet the Australian army's newest recruits, Allen and Allan.
Or is it Allan and Allen?
The 18-year-old Dube twins enlisted into the Australian Defence Force at the Maroochydore branch on Monday morning.
Born in Zimbabwe and raised in Maryborough, the Dube brothers told 612 ABC radio their father was to blame for their near identical names.
"We have no idea what he was doing, probably some kind of a joke," said Allen.
"It was probably because we were twins, and if you call one or the other with the same name, we'll both come."
Like the detectives Thompson and Thomson in the classic comic Tintin, the pair's resemblance in appearance and nomenclature led to all manner of scrapes with school teachers.
"We had a difficult time pretty much the entire time," said Allan.
"I will admit there were times we would switch classes, until others would yell out 'Miss, we've got the wrong twin!'"
Senior recruitment officer Captain Glenn Ellis said the pair had both enlisted to become riflemen, the primary combat section of the army.
"They're the frontline soldiers, foot soldiers, who go out and do the war fighting," he said.
"It's a very exciting job, very physical job, a tough job... those guys are very excited to be involved in that area."
He said the twins had now flown out for Kapooka, near Wagga Wagga, where they would complete 80 days of basic training, before shifting to Singleton for 71 days of specialised infantry training.
Captain Ellis said after that, their paths could separate for the first time in their lives.
"They'll be posted to an infantry battalion in Brisbane, Townsville or Darwin, that's where our three main brigade locations are," he said.
"It's likely that they could go to the same infantry battalion, but it really just depends on their preference as to where they want to go."
