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Texas Connect Us: Burson Brothers As Texas Rangers

In a state rich in tradition, NBC 5 found a new first.

Jake and Josh Burson are the first brothers to simultaneously serve as Texas Rangers.

The Rangers are the oldest law enforcement organization in North America with statewide jurisdiction.

They're often called upon to help other agencies investigate major crimes.

There are only 172 members in six different companies across Texas.

Positions only come up when a Ranger retires, so getting selected isn't easy, according to Josh.

"I actually interviewed six times and it was my sixth time when ever I got in," Josh said.

And his older brother Jake?

"I applied one time, interviewed one time," Jake said.

"Now you're making me look bad," Josh joked.

"You know, I got lucky," Jake added. "Either you cut it or you don't. He's my brother, I love him to death and I'd do anything for him, but this is something that each individual person has to earn on their own."

Law enforcement is in the Bursons' blood.

Their father was a Texas state trooper, so they knew their calling at an early age.

"I can remember he and I running around the playground acting like we were in a little patrol car, chasing people around," Jake recalled.

"My mom actually kept one of my journals that we had to do in school from kindergarten and that was one of the questions, 'what do you want to do when you grow up' and of course, I misspelled it, but I put 'I want to be a highway patrolman,'" Josh said.

Born in West, Texas, they later moved to a ranch near Waco.

"Since we were able to walk and hold a gun, we were shooting and hunting and fishing, around horses, riding horses, getting thrown off of horses," Josh said. "We thought we were cowboys."

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