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Kiersten finds peace at last

By Shaun Inguanzo
CORPORAL Kiersten Cooper has waited 19 years as an Army Reservist for the chance to serve her country in its peace-keeping mission in East Timor.
And now that chance has arrived.
Dandenong RSL last week recognised Cpl Cooper’s contribution to the Reserve, and her imminent tour of duty in East Timor, by presenting her with an RSL banner after first hosting her celebration party over six weeks ago.
Dandenong RSL welfare committee chairman John Filmer was at the subbranch one Saturday night when a booking for 34 people – family and friends of Cpl Cooper’s – was paid tribute to by the live band.
Mr Filmer said he spoke with Cpl Cooper and soon discovered the intriguing story about her long wait to serve abroad.
“I was so impressed with her as a professional soldier, because she had been in the Army Reserve for 19 years and was given this one opportunity with just four days’ notice,” Mr Filmer said.
Cpl Cooper then spent six weeks undergoing intensive training in New South Wales and Queensland with a focus on communicating with the East Timorese people.
This week, Cpl Cooper flew to East Timor where she will command 14 subordinates, some who have already been in East Timor for three months.
Cpl Cooper’s father, David Cooper, said both he and his wife Dawn were immensely proud of their daughter’s call-up. But the timing was a coincidence, with the couple slowly turning back their commitments to the family manufacturing business and allowing Cpl Cooper to manage it.
“She has been running the factory for the last couple of years. We were only coming in part time, but now we will have to come back fulltime,” he said with a laugh.