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The first 11 personnel of a 30-strong Movement Control Unit supplied from the Australian Defence Force (including eight Air Force members) arrived in Mogadishu to begin support for the peacekeeping force UNOSOM.

A 30-strong Movement Control Group (MCG) from the Australian Defence Force, including seven Air Force members, joined the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

A Dassault Falcon 900 tri-jet VIP transport from No 34 Squadron was used to fly home Australians who had become hostages in the Gulf crisis triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on 2 August.

The Air Force’s first hot-air balloon made its maiden flight over Canberra.  Crew for the balloon is drawn from Reservists of No 28 Squadron (City of Canberra).

The Air Force’s No 12 Squadron at Amberley was disbanded, and the fleet of Boeing CH-47C Chinook medium lift helicopters were withdrawn from service.

RAAF Base Tindal is located 15 kilometres outside Katherine in the Northern Territory and 320 kilometres by road south – east of Darwin. Tindal forms part of chain of airfields reaching from Learmonth in Western Australia to Townville in Queensland and is home to No, 75 Squadron, a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter unit as well as several detachments and non-flying units belonging to the Combat Support and Surveillance and Response Groups.

Flight Lieutenant Robyn Williams and Officer Cadet Deborah Hicks became the Air Force’s first female pilots.

RAAF Base Curtin is a joint use military air base and civil airport located on the north coast of Western Australia about 35 kilometres south-east of Derby and 170 kilometres east of Broome, and covering an area of more than 25,000 hectares. Curtin is one of 3 RAAF bare bases that form an arc across the north of Australia, the others being Scherger on Cape York and Learmonth on the North West Cape peninsular of Western Australia. Although, during peacetime, Curtin is maintained by a small caretaker staff permanently stationed there, the base is activated for Defence Force exercises and operations by units deploying to the base from other parts of Australia.

The 30-year permanent presence of RAAF fighter units based at Butterworth, Malaysia, ended with a special ceremony.

Motto: Security through training The RAAF Security and Fire School, formerly known as the Defence and Security Training School, is a vital part of the Ground Academy of the Air Force Training Group. The school was renamed on 1 January 1987…

Her Majesty, The Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, presented a new Queens Colour for the Royal Australian Air Force.

The first two F/A-18 Hornets landed at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, on completion of their delivery flight from the US.

The MFO (Multinational Force & Observers Sinai) was formed to monitor arrangements for the return of Egyptian territory in the Sinai which Israel had occupied since 1967.

The crew of a RAAF P-3B Orion maritime patrol aircraft from No 10 Squadron commenced the first ‘prosecution’ of a Soviet Echo II class submarine transiting from the South China Sea through the Straits of Malacca to the Indian Ocean.

The first example of a new ensign featuring the Air Forces ‘leaping kangaroo’ roundel in place of the RAF cockade went on display in the office of the Chief of Air Staff.

Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams KBE, CB, DSO, “Father of the Air Force” died, at the age of 89. His 25 year career with the Air Force included a record 17 year tenure as Chief of the Air Staff. He was the first Air Force member to hold the rank of Air Marshal.

A unit known as AUSTAIR, which Australia contributed to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Egypt, flew its last operational mission.

A C-130E Hercules of No 37 Squadron arrived in Tehran, Iran, to remove the remaining staff members of Australia’s Embassy amid the turmoil of the Iranian Revolution. A previous RAAF flight on 6 January had removed the first group of Australian…

The disbanding the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) as a separate entity saw its personnel transferred to the RAAF.

After civil war erupted in Portuguese Timor (East Timor) in August 1975, a DHC-4 Caribou (A4-140) was sent from No 38 Squadron to fly Red Cross personnel and supplies from Darwin.

A 16-man forward party left Canberra to prepare for the arrival at Ismailia, Egypt, of the air unit committed by Australia to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Sinai.

Three Hercules transports that were previously used to fly humanitarian relief missions around South Vietnam, to ameliorate the sufferings of the civilian population in the face of a massive Communist offensive, were used to evacuate Australia’s Ambassador and Embassy staff from Saigon.

A C-130 (A97-160) took off from RAAF Base Butterworth, Malaysia, bound for Saigon to join an international relief effort for tens of thousands of civilian refugees displaced during a major Communist military offensive.

After Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve of 1974, the RAAF led the effort to go to the city’s relief.

The first six F-111Cs arrived at RAAF Base Amberley, ten years after 24 of these aircraft were ordered by the Australian Government to replace the Air Force’s ageing Canberra bombers.

The Air Force Memorial constructed on Anzac Parade in Canberra was unveiled by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in his official role as Marshal of the Air Force.

No 2 Squadron flew its final Canberra bombing missions of the Vietnam War before withdrawing from its base at Phan Rang, in Ninh Thuan Province.

Canberra bomber A84-228 belonging to the RAAF’s No 2 Squadron was preparing to bomb a target 80 kilometres west of Hue, South Vietnam, when it was struck by two surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

The Headquarters of the Integrated Air Defence System (IADS) was formed at Butterworth, Malaysia, to provide for the air defence of Singapore and Malaysia.