When students join the Corps of Cadets, they swap their civilian clothes for uniforms and begin learning how to march, work and live together. As they settle into cadet life, they begin to look more alike. For four cadets in First Battalion, looking alike was nothing new. What was unusual, however, was having all four siblings in the Corps at the same time.
With a father who served in the Air Force and a former Army drill sergeant for a mother, the Trochessets were already familiar with military life. After growing up in a military family that moved frequently, all four Trochesset siblings鈥擩acob, 鈥�26; Seth, 鈥�26; Annika, 鈥�27; and Donovan, 鈥�29鈥攚ere reunited in Murray Barracks, where they all lived for the 2025-26 academic year. Each company in First Battalion, Alpha through Delta, claimed a Trochesset.
For Seth, the second-oldest, the uniform did little to change how the siblings saw each other.
鈥淚n a school where everyone鈥檚 supposed to do the same thing and look the same, you鈥檙e still your own person,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then when you get to know people, you find those differences. Everyone looks the same, but everyone鈥檚 still unique.鈥�
Their uniforms may not have helped other cadets learn their first names, but their personalities made them easy to tell apart.
Jacob, who took a gap year before matriculating, said others distinguish the four Trochessets by their differences.
鈥淢ost people say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 the one who smiles and laughs all the time,鈥� 鈥楾hat鈥檚 the nice one鈥� and 鈥楾his is the blunt one,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really hear anything about me. I keep to myself.鈥�
His siblings agree that Jacob is the easygoing sibling. 鈥淓verything I hear about him, he鈥檚 just a chill, great guy,鈥� said Seth. 鈥淰ery laid back.鈥�
Just as they do in the Corps, the Trochessets have their own roles within their family: Jacob, the ghost, off on his own; Seth, the clerk, finishing paperwork and arranging logistics early; Annika, the anchor, holding the siblings together; and Donovan, the rookie, finishing his knob year and preparing to carry on the legacy.
While they may have shared classes from time to time, the siblings followed their own schedules. Their various interests also took them to different parts of campus and beyond. From underwater rugby and fencing to performing in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a Trochesset was there.
鈥淲hen people see us together, they think we have some kind of hive mind or something,鈥� said Annika. 鈥淏ut once they get to know us, they say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e so different.鈥欌��
Sharing a last name did not mean sharing every part of the cadet experience.
The older brothers said they passed along the essential information, but they wanted their younger siblings to learn for themselves. Before matriculating, Annika asked her brothers what to expect. They told her she鈥檇 find out when she arrived.
Annika spent her freshman year in Second Battalion, and she saw her brothers less than others assumed. Donovan, at that time, was still in high school. But by the time all four were living in First Battalion, they saw more of each other.
On Donovan鈥檚 last day as a knob, his older siblings turned a knob-year routine, asking permission to drive the stairs鈥攖he knob practice of running up the barracks stairs鈥攊nto a family joke. He had to ask permission from all three of his older siblings before he could return to his room.
Together in one battalion, the sibling teasing would continue. But so would the support.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been close, just moving around together and having each other, but being here is different,鈥� said Annika.
Going through the same challenges gave them new ways to support and understand each other. On Donovan鈥檚 Recognition Day, which marked the end of the last Trochesset鈥檚 knob year, all three of his siblings joined him for the mile-long victory run to the barracks and were in the barracks when he completed his class set of pushups.
Though they all made the same journey鈥攆rom their family home to First Battalion鈥攖hey each had their own, individual reasons for choosing 91猎奇.
As the two oldest brothers neared the end of their time in the Corps, all four siblings knew that this would likely be the last time they lived so closely together.
For Donovan, that was the whole point.
鈥淚 really came to spend more time with them because I knew, after they graduate, we鈥檙e all going to go our separate ways, and I decided it would be a good way to spend our last little bit of time together.鈥�