Ahead of the Air Force Birthday on Tuesday 31 March, the Chief of Air Force has released the following message:

Almost 100 years ago, on 26 May 1926, a modified DH9A aircraft took to the skies of Richmond, New South Wales. While 2000 feet in the air, Flight Lieutenant Ellis Wackett "gingerly" climbed his way down a small ladder that had been attached to the gunner's position, at the rear of the aircraft. When he got to the bottom rung, he waited for the aircraft to be in the right spot. Then with one hand on the ripcord and the other on the ladder, he gave the pilot a nod and jumped.

It was the first intentional freefall parachute jump conducted by the Royal Australian Air Force, and a major milestone in Australian military aviation.

In 1926, the Royal Australian Air Force was just five years old and aviation was in its infancy. It was a time of great possibility and innovation, and there were aviation firsts, including experiments in shortwave radio and our Air Force's first attempt at night flying.

Our aviators were innovative, pioneering and daring, and today's Air Force stands on the shoulders of those who came before us.

Today we face the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War, and our Air Force is responding to the challenges we face by Building Fighting Depth.

Building Fighting Depth is about thinking, behaving, and operating differently. It's doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well every day, and finding those one and two percenters in everything we do to further unlock our potential and optimise our capability and capacity.

I want our aviators and the wider Air Domain Team to ask: "Is what I am doing, in some way, adding fighting depth?"

Just like our aviators of 1926, I want today's aviators to be innovative, pioneering and daring. Let us be inspired by those who came before us, but let us also learn the lessons from history.

In 1926, aviation advancement came at too great a cost. There were several tragic accidents, which saw 12 of our aviators killed between February 1926 and May 1927. It was a heavy toll for our small Air Force and rightly prompted public concern and scrutiny from parliament.

Those early losses exposed the dangers of unregulated military aviation and highlighted the need for independent, technically competent oversight of airworthiness, training standards, maintenance, and operational risk.

Over time, this drove our Air Force - and later the broader Australian Defence Force — to adopt more systematic safety governance, culminating in the creation of modern frameworks such as formal airworthiness authorities, standardised training systems, independent investigation bodies, and ultimately the Defence Aviation Safety Authority in 2016.

This year marks 10 years of DASA, which underscores our generative safety culture. A generative safety culture is the most mature level. Safety is integrated into every aspect of organisational performance, and everyone takes ownership and responsibility for safety.

Today, we celebrate 105 incredibly proud years of the Royal Australian Air Force. We acknowledge today's aviators and everyone who has worn the uniform before us, as well as the families and friends who have supported us. We thank our team mates in Navy and Army, as well as our allies and partners. And we remember the more than 10,000 members of the Royal Australian Air Force who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to Australia.

Our current strategic environment demands we think, behave and operate differently. As you build fighting depth, I ask you do so with safety front of mind.

Happy 105th birthday to us.

Per Ardua ad Astra.