The Emery County natives often show up to work in startlingly similar outfits, and they once purchased nearly identical pickup trucks in different states - without collaborating first.

Born in Price and raised in Orangeville, these two bachelors share another unlikely connection: distinguished public-service careers in the Bush administration.

"All through their lives they have excelled," says their mom, Rebecca Justesen. "They have always pushed themselves."

For Troy Justesen, working for President Bush has been his greatest achievement. He is certain his twin agrees.

"You can 'West Wing'-it all you want," Troy says, "but it still doesn't make you get the jitters like you do every day when you walk into that [Oval Office]. It never goes away, and some days it's worse than others. That was the luckiest thing I've ever done."

Besides remembering his three super-sized job titles - deputy commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, acting deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and acting commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration - Troy has important responsibilities to wrestle with. He serves as the principal adviser to the education secretary for matters related to special education and rehabilitative services.

"The hardest thing," Troy says, "is making sure you make the right decision. Is this going to help kids? Is it going to help people? Did we do well today? You've got to always ask yourself those questions because a town like this can quickly make you forget why you're here."

Tracy Justesen's responsibilities are equally daunting. A trial attorney at the Justice Department, he now serves as the White House associate director for domestic policy. His emphasis is on rights for the disabled.

At the root of the their success, the twins agree, is a love of education that was nurtured at Utah institutions of higher learning, including Southern Utah University, the College of Eastern Utah and Utah State University, where both men earned master's degrees in rehabilitation counseling.

Troy went on to earn a doctorate from Vanderbilt University, while Tracy earned law degrees from Drake University and George Washington University. The duo are now talking about attending The Johns Hopkins University together.

"We are the only people in our whole family - extended family, too - to go to college," Troy says. "We love school. We'd go to school the rest of our lives if we could."

Work is another key to their many accomplishments.

"My intellect cannot [rise to] that of everyone I work with," Troy says," but I will work twice as hard as anyone else."

The Justesen brothers' future plans include a return to their Utah roots to pursue professional and personal opportunities.

"We want to reconnect," Troy says. "We love to hunt and fish more than anything in the world."

If there is anything to be learned from the Justesens' success, Troy adds, it is that one person can make a difference.

"You can't change the world overnight, but you can make it a better place," he says. "It's possible; I did it."

ajbrunson@comcast.net