Chaplain Roberts Washing his Laundry at the Wash Rocks, FOB Delhi
Staff Sergeant Kristopher J. Battles, USMCR
Acquisition Number: 2012.52.7
Medium: Oil on Gessoed

This figure study in oil captures Chaplain Roberts doing his laundry at Forward Operating Base Delhi in Afghanistan. British Ministry of Defense personnel established the base in an abandoned agricultural college building in 2006 on the east bank of the Helmand River in the Garmsir District of Helmand Province. Marines of Task Force Leatherneck took possession in 2009. Navy chaplains of many faiths provide for the Marines’ spiritual needs in garrison and during deployments. During Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, they lived with whatever field conditions “their Marines” were handed.