Description
Robert Cooper served in Afghanistan 2010-2011. He was deployed as an ASLAV gunner with 2 Cavalry Regiment as part of MTF-2 (Mentoring Task Force – Rotation 2), based in Uruzgan Province.
While on deployment, Cooper was able to sketch and write in his journal, and he also recorded footage of troop movements and the local Afghan people. Cooper was discharged in early 2011. Once home, he produced a sequenced set of 346 works on paper, referring back to the notes and footage he made in Afghanistan so that he could tell the story of his deployment with absolute accuracy. Cooper wanted to show people exactly what he had witnessed and experienced at war.
Trooper Cooper wrote the following description of the work in his diary:
"Oct 03 2010
Uplift
Combat Team Delta
Board an American Chinook at TK to fly to F.O.B. (Forward Operation Base) Mirwais, located in the Chora Valley
I was the very first to board and got the best seat in the chopper....
Right up front - next to the gunner / load-master.
Later in the day, for some reason Trooper McMahon said "he should of had my seat in the helicopter
Maybe he was right?
Anyway so sad too bad
I did put his opinion in my stiff shit book"
Details
Accession Number
AWM2020.205.40.19
Object Type
Work on paper
Physical Description
Medium: watercolour, gouache, pen and pencil on paper
Measurement
Sheet: 29.8 cm x 41.2 cm
Medium
watercolour, gouache, pen and pencil on paper
Copyright
AWM Licensed copyright
Conflicts