Seeing double in the New York Guard

The Camp Smith Training Site in upstate Cortlandt Manor, volunteers of the New York Guard State Defense Force might do a double-take this spring with identical twins serving in the force headquarters.

Guard Capt. Mark Getman, of Lawrence, swore in his older identical twin brother, Pfc. Steven Getman into the New York Guard as a public affairs specialist during the May 19 unit drill assembly.

Pfc. Getman, from Rockville Centre, was born two minutes earlier than his brother, Capt. Getman, who previously served as a chaplain candidate and unit public affairs representative in the New York Army National Guard from 2006-2014 before returning to the Guard as the organization’s public affairs officer. He had previously served four years in the New York Guard before he enlisted in the Army National Guard.

The brothers have worked side by side before. They previously worked together in their family restaurant equipment and supply business, where Steven was Mark’s boss. “My brother, Captain Getman, worked for me, but he would say he worked with me …but I paid his check,” Steve said.

The New York Guard is a force of 500 uniformed volunteers, organized as a military unit, who augment the New York National Guard during state emergencies. They provide administrative and logistics support to the National Guard. Members of the New York Guard respond to many civil emergencies on the mainland and following Hurricane Maria.