Our Journey

Ten Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Sabre Mk 32s, which had formerly been in service with Air Force squadrons, were officially handed over to the Royal Malaysian Air Force, along with spare parts, ground equipment, and a simulator for training, as a gift worth some $10 million. This followed an announcement made in April by Prime Minister John Gorton, as part of Australia’s commitment to provide military assistance to its allies in South-East Asia.

The Headquarters of the Integrated Air Defence System (IADS) was formed at Butterworth, Malaysia, to provide for the air defence of Singapore and Malaysia as part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) agreed at ministerial talks in London. The new organisation replaced the air defence set-up under Britain’s Far East Command and which controlled the Far East Air Force. Headquarters IADS assumed this responsibility when it was declared operational on 1 September 1971, although FPDA did not enter into force until 1 November. Under the terms of the agreement covering IADS, Australia was to provide the commander and Malaysia the deputy, while the remaining staff were drawn from the UK, New Zealand and Singapore. The first commander appointed was Air Vice-Marshal Ron Susans, RAAF, who remained in the post until 1974.

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. Over the next five days Orion crews used radar and sonobuoys to detect, identify and track the submarine. The episode was the first of many conducted under Operation Gateway during the Cold War. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Detachment A of No 92 Wing (comprising up to three Orions with support staff) was stationed at Butterworth, Malaysia, from February 1981. The detachment began the regular monitoring of Soviet ships and submarines passing through the region, before moving into the more aggressive prosecution phase a year later. These patrols ended with the Cold War in 1989, whereupon Operation Gateway focused on maritime security.

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). At full strength, UNTAC was to comprise about 22 000 military and civilian personnel from 32 countries, who were required to secure a ceasefire and help disarm the warring parties before free elections could be held in 1993. The deployment of UNTAC involved the largest ADF commitment overseas since the Vietnam War, principally in a 488-strong Force Communications Unit (FCU), including 18 Air Force communications operators and radio technicians, which was spread out across 60 locations throughout Cambodia.

An Air Force C-130 Hercules transport landed at Buka, just north of Bougainville, on the first step towards bringing together the opposing parties in Bougainville’s protracted internal conflict. For the previous nine years a separatist insurgency led by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army had closed down the giant Panguna copper and gold mine and caused a constitutional crisis for the Papua New Guinea Government. The Air Force continued to play a key role in the peace process, bringing together the opposing factions at further talks and providing essential airlift for the Truce Monitoring Group that was subsequently established.

Two days after Indian Ocean littoral countries were devastated by a tsunami generated by a severe earthquake off Sumatra, Indonesia, on 26 December, the first two Air Force C-130H transports from No 36 Squadron touched down at Medan to begin flying relief into Aceh Province. RAAF participation in the relief effort, called Operation Sumatra Assist, ranged from medical staff, aeromedical evacuation teams, air traffic controllers, engineers, logistics personnel and air terminal staff in addition to a variety of transport aircraft.