No. 77 Squadron operated a detachment of Pilatus PC-9 aircraft in the forward air control role from 2000 until 2003; this role was subsequently filled by the Forward Air Control Development Unit. Four Hornets from No. 77 Squadron were deployed to protect the US base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean between November 2001 and February 2002, during the early phase of the war in Afghanistan. In March 2006, the squadron sent a detachment of aircraft to RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria, to assist with security for the Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne. No. 77 Squadron deployed to the Middle East in September 2015 as part of Operation Okra, Australia's contribution of the military intervention against ISIL; it handed over to the next rotation, from No. 3 Squadron RAAF, in April 2016.