Photo By Sgt. Scott Tynes | Alex and Artis Ricks have been inseparable since birth. They enlisted, trained and now...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – The Ricks brothers have been inseparable since birth, even entering and serving in the same Mississippi Army National Guard unit together.
Identical twins, Alex and Artis, mirror each other in nearly every way. At 5’4”, Alex is slightly taller than his 5’2” brother, but slimmer in the face. They share many of the same likes and dislikes, and both are outgoing and engaging. Both serve in Company B, Special Troops Battalion, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, as multichannel transmission system operator/maintainers who establish and monitor radio transmissions for the brigade.
“We are a lot alike,” Artis said. “Some people say I’m the more aggressive one. I tend to make my point known and try to get my point across as firmly as possible. He’s more tentative than I am. And his favorite color is red, mine is blue,” he said and laughed. “Most of the time, if we’re going somewhere, we’re dressed alike, but in different colors. More than that, I’m just dressing comfortably. He dresses more fancy than I do. I’m just a slacks and a shirt guy. He’s a skinny jeans and cardigan guy.”
At 21-years-old, the twins have rarely been separated for more than a few weeks.
“If I’m not at work, I’m at home with my brother. It’s a love-hate relationship. When I’m around him and it’s just me and him, I can’t stand the guy,” Artis said with a grin. “But when it’s us against everybody else, he’s my best friend in the world. I would never not want him around me. You know his background and you can share everything. There’s just a level of trust you can’t get anywhere else. I can feel what he’s thinking and we often say the same things at the same time.”
The Meridian High School graduates enlisted together on Dec. 16, 2011.
“(We went to the see the recruiter) at the same time, same day, and we probably wore the same outfit,” said Alex. “We were 17, low on money and we needed something to do. So it was pretty much out of boredom. Artis was like, ‘Do you want to join the military’ and I said, ‘Well, I don’t have anything to do today.’”
Their father’s service in the MSARNG influenced their decision to enlist in the Army, but it was their decision of job specialty was more geographical.
“We wanted to be on the same team,” Alex said. “We wanted to be at drill together, so we picked our hometown of Meridian and that so happened to be signal. Now that I’m in it I can’t complain. It’s pretty tough when we first get out here – trying to set everything up - but once everything is in, it’s the easiest job on Earth. I just maintain and maintaining is easy.”
The recruiter arranged for them to ship for basic training at the same time and the bond between them grew stronger through the rigors of becoming Soldiers.
“We didn’t have a tough time, really,” Alex said. “We smiled all the way through. We actually got in trouble for being too happy a lot of the time. We got in trouble for singing during basic training and had to do push-ups all night, but we made sure we had a smile on our faces. I could not be not happy when I was around my brother at basic training.”
“For the first three weeks of basic training, they did not know one of us existed,” Artis added. “They thought Ricks was just one person and it worked out pretty fine until they realized it; and then they started to pick on us and throw us some things at us to see how we could handle them. When times get hard, like you get a letter from home that you don’t really like or the drill sergeants are picking on you and you don’t really have anyone else to talk to, I always had my brother. It really helped out a lot to keep my morale boosted.”
The brothers also drove each other to strive harder through natural sibling competitiveness.
“That’s how you get better with anything,” Artis said. “If you have somebody to have competition with he does better and that makes you do better; and you achieve greatness at that point. And we’re the best. When I was at basic and AIT, I tried to have a better (physical fitness) score than he did. I tried to do better in classes.”
Alex said it was competitiveness that led to him being selected the platoon guide and Artis as the assistant platoon guide. Artis laughed.
“I would say for the first week he was the leader and then I took over,” he said. “But, I’ll give him that. I beg to differ, though.”
The twins were separated for a month before relinking at Advanced Individual Training at the U.S. Army Signal School at Fort Gordon, Ga.
“I made sure we stayed in contact the whole time. He was with every weekend. It was a team event,” Alex said.
The brothers said the bond they share is similar, but stronger, than those shared by their fellow Soldiers in the 155th ABCT.
“Some of the Soldiers, we have a great bond,” Alex said. “But there’s a level of strength you get because he’s your brother. When I’m with these guys I trust them, too, so I can share information with them and they can share information with me. It’s always good to not be alone and to have a companion. I just so happen to have a twin so I’m never alone and it just makes you feel better. It makes things a little easier on you.”
It’s a fact both say they are grateful for as they participate in the 155th ABCT’s Multi-echelon Integrated Brigade Training exercise at Fort Hood, Texas, this month.
“It’s been a challenge,” Artis said.
He is separated from his brother by only a few miles at a retransmission site on a mountain, while Alex is working on the main antenna at the brigade’s Tactical Operations Center - but the distance seems much longer.
“I will look out for him no matter what. Anything could happen and as long as my brother is OK, everything is fine,” Artis said, adding that something feels missing when they are separated.
“We only butt heads at home. When we are out here, we’re best friends. It’s us against everybody else out here,” Alex agreed.
The brothers may have joined the Army National Guard on a whim, but the military has become a major factor in their lives and they plan to stay with it.
“We definitely plan on staying here as long as they will keep us,” Alex said. “This is something that once we got into it, we said this could be a good life for us and help us to maintain the lifestyle we have. So, I don’t see turning it down anytime soon.”
Both plan to make a career of the Army and realize at some point those paths may take them in different directions, but it is adjustment they are already coping with in their civilian lives.
Alex works as an officer at a correctional facility while Artis works for Federal Express Ground.
Both, however, are pursuing careers at Meridian Community College. Alex started as a music major, but changed to criminal justice to advance his civilian career. Artis is seeking a music education degree with plans to attend Mississippi State University.
“We’re both singers,” Alex said. “We definitely sing a lot. It helped us get through basic training. Once you start singing you just feel free. You can express yourself better.”
Artis agreed.
“The emotion that you can portray while singing is something that you just can’t get anywhere else,” he said. “I think music is the best medicine. It keeps people sane. And to see that enjoyment on people’s faces that hear you sing, it’s just a great feeling.”
Until then, however, the Ricks brothers will keep transmitting in stereo.
| Date Taken: | 06.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2016 07:27 |
| Story ID: | 201129 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Hometown: | TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
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