Background
Keighran (pronounced: KEAR-ran) was born in Nambour, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland region of Queensland, in 1983.
Keighran (pronounced: KEAR-ran) was born in Nambour, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland region of Queensland, in 1983.
He was presented with the medal by the Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, in a ceremony in Canberra on 1 November 2012. When Keighran was in Year 5, he moved with his family to Lowmead, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north west of the Queensland regional city of Bundaberg. His mother also taught dressage, and his father occasionally organised rodeo events.
Keighran attended school in nearby Rosedale and graduated from high school in 2000.
Keighran joined the Australian Army in 2000. Prior to Afghanistan, he had served in East Timor and Iraq.
He was promoted to lance corporal in 2005 while within Mortar Platoon of the Support Company, 6 RAR. He was promoted to corporal within the same unit in 2009. Keighran"s actions were key in allowing the Coalition forces to withdraw without further casualties.
Keighran now serves in the Australian Army Reserve posted to Army Headquarters.
His civilian career was in the mining industry in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, where he worked in the Frog"s Legal Gold Mine until early 2015.