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Seeing Double

By Airman Cortney Hansen , 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs / Published January 25, 2011

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MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen walking through the halls of Malmstrom's clinic may witness two very similar faces in two different places, but not because they're experiencing Déjà vu.

Senior Airman Tambara Hamilton, a 341st Medical Support Squadron lab technician, and Senior Airman Shaleena Pulliam, a 341st Medical Operations Squadron dental assistant, are the twin diagnosis behind this medical mystery. Although they are fraternal twins, they are sometimes mistaken for the same person.

"When we're together people usually don't get us mixed up, but when we're apart, they'll see one of us and then the other and get really confused," Airman Pulliam said.

Usually, the only time they're not together is when they're working. Airman Pulliam loves her job as a dental assistant, especially when she gets to work with patients; and Airman Hamilton enjoys being a lab technician as well. The time they spend at the clinic is enjoyable, but to them, it's nothing compared to the time spent as a twin.

Time isn't the only thing they share. Along with a birthday with a one-minute age difference, they share compassion, patience, and procrastination, but there are also several things they don't have in common. When asked how they were different they answered for each other.

"She's definitely a lot more responsible than I am; with her money and everything," Airman Pulliam said. "She's wiser and she learns from my mistakes."

"She's definitely a lot more talkative and outgoing," Airman Hamilton said.

Airmen Hamilton and Pulliam joined the Air Force within four months of each other, and are currently stationed together here at Malmstrom AFB. A common question for them is how they got stationed together, and if they did it on purpose.

"She came up here to Malmstrom to visit me because I was supposed to be deploying, and when she came up she met my friend, Brian," Airman Hamilton explained. "They hit it off and got married two months later. Four months after they got married, she did a joint-spouse assignment and got stationed up here with him."

"I like that she has someone else to talk about her feelings and emotions with," said Senior Airman Brian Pulliam, a 341st Civil Engineer Squadron power production technician and Shaleena's husband. "But sometimes it can be tough because they tend to think the same for the most part which leaves me outnumbered."

Another question is if they can feel each other's pain, or have specific telepathic experiences. The only out-of-the-ordinary experience that the twins have had occurred when they were sleeping.

"This one time when we were little, I had this dream of some food floating above me," Airman Hamilton said.

"I woke up and saw her reaching up to get the food," Airman Pulliam added. "Other than that we'll just start singing the same part of the same song at the same exact time or start telling the same exact story at the same time. My husband hates it; he gets freaked out."

They also described how being a twin can be an advantage sometimes. In elementary school, Airmen Hamilton and Pulliam switched classes to see how long it would take their teacher to figure it out.

"We switched classes so I could read her paper because she was so petrified to read it in front of class, and she did my spelling test which she totally failed me on," Airman Pulliam said.

Another advantage to being a twin is the bond that is created between each other. The sisters described their relationship as a 'constant friendship.'

"I would say that one of the main reasons we're so close is because of all of our experiences together," Airman Pulliam said. "Our mom would always remind us of how we were the best thing that each other had. No one was going to care about us like we would for each other."
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