As well as training, over the course of No. 1 OCU's existence its aircrews flew operational sorties involving naval cooperation, aerial photography, target towing and radar targeting, and participated in exercises in Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand. During runway upgrades at Amberley in mid-1962, the unit was based for a month at RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. Later that year, it briefly maintained a detachment at RAAF Base Townsville, Queensland. On 11 September 1964, one of its Canberras was intercepted by a Sabre fighter of No. 76 Squadron based at RAAF Base Darwin, Northern Territory, as part of Operation Handover, a little-known contingency plan put into effect during "Konfrontasi" to guard against possible attack by Indonesian forces following the recent establishment of the Federation of Malaysia. No. 1 OCU suffered a fatal accident on 16 February 1965, when a Canberra Mk.21 ran off the runway and crashed at Amberley, killing both crew members. The unit was made independent of No. 82 Wing in April 1968. Its role from then on was to provide trained crews solely for No. 2 Squadron, which was on active duty in the Vietnam War. At the same time, maintenance responsibilities for the Canberras transferred from No. 482 Squadron to No. 1 OCU, along with relevant staff and equipment. Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons effectively ceased operations while their crews underwent conversion to the General Dynamics F-111C, expected to enter service soon afterwards. Delivery of the F-111s was delayed, so Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons began operating leased F-4E Phantoms as an interim strike force in 1970.