TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

When they were students at Ridgeview High School, Lance Corporals Ashley Sallee and Kimberley Gastelum, both 22, might have looked like polar opposites.

"I was actually kind of scared of Kim because she dressed gothic," said their longtime friend Heather Wright. "Ashley dressed in pink and pastels -- really girly."

Of course, the fact that Sallee and Gastelum are identical twins means they'll always look alike -- at least, to a certain extent.

"Ashley was born two minutes before Kimberley," said one during a recent phone interview from Camp Leatherneck in Helmland Province, Afghanistan. "But Kimberley's taller," added the other, finishing her sister's sentence.

While the pair now sport fatigues as U.S. Marines serving together at Camp Leatherneck, it wasn't their first time donning a uniform.

"We were all three of us in marching band for all four years (of high school)," Wright said.

"Ashley was in band, and I was in color guard," Gastelumsaid, "and that kind of taught us a little bit of discipline and to keep our bearings."

Gastelum works in a communications battalion, installing cable and phone systems, which she said sometimes requires digging trenches to bury phone lines.

Sallee works in a different command as a maintenance manager for vehicles at the camp, tracking repairs and making sure necessary parts get to where they need to go.

When they get off work at the end of the day, Sallee said, "my sister comes to my room and we go to chow together." After that, they do a workout called "Insanity."

But even if it's spent on "Insanity," Sallee and Gastelum agreed that time together is largely responsible for keeping them, well -- sane.

"Yeah, I do miss my family and friends," Sallee said, "but having her here makes it a lot easier to cope with."

Tuesday, the twins' mother, Vera Anderson, brought out a stack of pictures of the sisters over the years, and handed a series of toys to Gastelum's 17-month-old daughter, Valari. Gastelum is separated, and Anderson cares for Valari.

Every day Anderson and Valari talk to Gastelum on Skype, and look forward to her upcoming return.

"She'll take a couple weeks then go back to camp," Anderson said, "so she can get done as soon as possible."

Gastelum arrived in Afghanistan for a six-month tour Jan. 25 of this year. Sallee, who will be in Afghanistan for a full year, arrived on Valentine's Day.

"I've still got a ways to go," Sallee said.

According to a news release, the twins ended up at Camp Leatherneck together by chance.

Anderson said when the twins were young, they sometimes switched classes.

"The kids could tell the difference, but the teachers couldn't," she said.

Rob Martens, band director at Ridgeview, said he remembers the twins from their time in marching band, and as teens he could more easily tell them apart.

"They were always great students, and dedicated, and passionate," Martens said. That dedication and willingness to take instruction, Martens said, is vital to a successful marching band.

"A lot of what we do in band is military protocol," he said, "following orders and working for your team."

As a result, he said, in retrospect, he could imagine the sisters as "good soldiers."

Wright -- who became friends with Sallee in junior high school and Gastelum early in their freshman year at Ridgeview -- said she "never would have guessed" that both sisters would eventually enlist.

"Kim told me first and that wasn't very surprising," she said. "I actually thought they'd both do a good job over there, but Ashley was more of a big surprise."

Gastelum said she first heard about the Marine Corps from someone she was dating at the time. She joined the corps in 2008.

Sallee went to boot camp a year later, after making the switch from training for the Air Force to following her sister in becoming a Marine.

"It was a weird thing because I always thought about being a pilot, but my sister kept talking to me and saying you should really do the Marine Corps," she said. Sallee went to a couple of Marine-related functions with Gastelum and was convinced.

"I thought, 'This is really cool, this is what I want to do,'" said Sallee.

Anderson said she wanted her daughters to go to college, but since they'd made their decision, she said she's "very proud" and just "want(s) them home."

She said she remembers once texting Gastelum during boot camp.

"She goes, 'Not now, Mom, I'm shooting.' How many parents can say that about their kids?" Anderson said. "They get trained to carry weapons just like the men do."

She said Sallee was so determined to make it through boot camp, she didn't even realize she'd fractured her hip until afterward.

Sallee said when she returns to civilian life, she hopes to go back to school -- Anderson said she'd gone to Bakersfield College for a year before joining the Corps -- and do something in "the fitness field."

Because she initially joined the military to "broaden (her) horizons," Sallee noted that if she were to continue in the Marines, she would consider embassy duty, which would allow her to spend three years in three different countries, "one country for each year," working as an embassy guard.

"Traveling is one of the main reasons I joined so that probably fits perfectly," she said.

Gastelum plans to continue working in phone line installation when she returns to civilian life, "somewhere in California" where she can be with her daughter.

"They really are inseparable," Wright said of the twins. "Most siblings don't have that -- especially when they're away at war."