Corporal Daniel Keighran VC
Posted on 10/31/2012 9:49:05 PM PDT by naturalman1975
AUSTRALIA'S newest Victoria Cross recipient is now a part-time soldier working in the mines of Western Australia.
Royal Australian Regiment corporal Daniel Keighran received the nation's highest military honour today for repeatedly drawing enemy fire during a 2010 battle in which one of his mates was killed.
He said his company faced at least 100 insurgents during the battle at Derapet, in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan. "Training took over," Corporal Keighran said. "There was a situation and that's the way I reacted.''
Governor-General Quentin Bryce presented the award this morning "for the most conspicuous of gallantry and extreme devotion to duty'' during a firefight at with insurgents on August 24, 2010.
His is the third VC awarded to an Australian soldier for action in Afghanistan, and the first awarded to soldier outside the SAS.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
FOR the most conspicuous acts of gallantry and extreme devotion to duty in action in circumstances of great peril at Derapet, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan as part of Mentoring Task Force One on Operation SLIPPER.
Corporal Daniel Alan Keighran deployed to Afghanistan in February 2010 with the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.
On 24 August 2010 he was a member of a partnered fighting patrol with soldiers of the Afghan National Army's 1st Kandak, 4th Brigade, 205th (Hero) Corps which was engaged by a numerically superior and coordinated enemy attack from multiple firing points in three separate locations.
The attack was initiated by a high volume of sustained and accurate machine-gun and small arms fire which pinned down the combined Australian and Afghan patrol and caused a loss of momentum.
In the early stages of the attack, and upon realising that the forward elements of the patrol needed effective fire support, Corporal Keighran and another patrol member moved under sustained and accurate enemy fire to an exposed ridgeline to identify enemy locations and direct the return fire of both Australian and Afghan machine guns.
On reaching this position and with complete disregard for his own wellbeing, Corporal Keighran deliberately drew enemy fire by leaving the limited cover he had and moved over the ridgeline in order to positively identify targets for the machine gunners of the combined patrol.
After identifying some of the enemy firing positions, Corporal Keighran, under persistent enemy fire continued to lead and mentor his team and move around the ridge to both direct the fire of the Afghan and Australian machine gunners and to move them to more effective firing positions.
As the intensity of enemy fire grew, Corporal Keighran returned to the crest of the ridgeline to identify targets and adjust the fire of Australian Light Armoured vehicles.
His actions resulted in the effective suppression of enemy firing points, which assisted in turning the fight in the favour of the combined patrol.
Moving to a new position, Corporal Keighran deliberately and repeatedly again exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to assist in target identification and the marking of the forward line of troops for fire support elements whilst simultaneously engaging the enemy.
Realising that the new position provided a better location for the patrol's joint fire controller, Corporal Keighran moved over 100 metres across exposed parts of the ridgeline, attracting a high volume of accurate enemy fire, to locate and move the fire controller to the new position.
He then rose from cover again to expose his position on four successive occasions, each movement drawing more intense fire than the last in order to assist in the identification of a further three enemy firing points that were subsequently engaged by fire support elements.
During one of these occasions, when his patrol sustained an Australian casualty, Corporal Keighran with complete disregard for his own safety, left his position of cover on the ridgeline to deliberately draw fire away from the team treating the casualty.
Corporal Keighran remained exposed and under heavy fire while traversing the ridgeline, in order to direct suppressing fire and then assist in the clearance of the landing zone to enable evacuation of the casualty.
Corporal Keighran's acts of the most conspicuous gallantry to repeatedly expose himself to accurate and intense enemy fire, thereby placing himself in grave danger, ultimately enabled the identification and suppression of enemy firing positions by both Australian and Afghan fire support elements.
These deliberate acts of exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril were instrumental in permitting the withdrawal of the combined Australian and Afghan patrol with no further casualties.
His valour is in keeping with the finest traditions of the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force.
This retired yank Major salutes you Corporal Keighran .
congrats to Cpl keighran.
Outstanding conduct and bravery. Americans salute you.
Fine job sir.
Good kid. When the casualty reports come in, we often miss that they are filled with the best our societies produce. They deserve our respect and all the support we can give them.
Good kid. When the casualty reports come in, we often miss that they are filled with the best our societies produce. They deserve our respect and all the support we can give them.
The third VC awarded to Aussie troops in Afghanistan and yet only one VC has been awarded to a British soldier in that campaign despite the British contingent being so much larger than the Aussies.
Any opinions on whether the British are being over-stingy (very probably) or the Aussies are lowering the bar a bit?
Very well done young man, God Bless you and yours, it’s sons like you that make parents proud. Now I’d like to see you have a beer with Prince Harry and he buy, you earned it.
Very well done young man, God Bless you and yours, it’s sons like you that make parents proud. Now I’d like to see you have a beer with Prince Harry and he buy, you earned it.
There's also the fact that while the British have awarded only one VC in Afghanistan, they have awarded a number of the - equivalent in stature and honour - George Cross - to Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid GC, Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes GC, Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher GC and Corporal Mark Wright GC. Australia (and for that matter, New Zealand) no longer awards the GC - unlike the VC it was not retained in the Australian honours list and was replaced with the Cross of Valour (or CV) which, while officially equivalent, does not have the same history or recognition behind it. The GC was the 'proper award' for these soldiers, and if you are looking at numerical comparisons, it needs to be considered alongside the award of the Victoria Cross to Corporal Bryan Budd VC.
(For the record, Australia's CV has been twice awarded in the War on Terror - to Senior Constable Timothy Britten CV of the Western Australian Police and to Mr Richard Joyes CV - both for their actions in repeatedly reentering the bombed Sari Club to rescue survivors during the Bali Bombing of 12th October 2002 - but these are civil not military awards - like the GC, it can be awarded to both serving military and civilians in the correct circumstances).
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