page_title: No. 36 Squadron RAAF
section_title: Hercules era
hierarchical_section_title: No. 36 Squadron RAAF / History / Hercules era
caption_attribution_description: Original caption: Richmond, NSW. A RAAF Lockheed Hercules aircraft, A97-206 of No. 36 (T) Squadron, at an airstrip. Further information: Twelve Lockheed C-130A Hercules aircraft (serials A97-205 to 216) were delivered between December 1958 and March 1959 and replaced the ageing Dakotas operated by No. 36 Squadron.
context_page_description: No. 36 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force strategic transport squadron. It operates Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy airlifters from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. The squadron has seen active service flying transport aircraft during World War II, the Korean War, the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also supported Australian humanitarian and peacekeeping operations around the world, including Somalia, Cambodia, East Timor and Indonesia.
  The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in March 1942, and equipped with Douglas DC-2s, among other aircraft. Later in the war it began operating Douglas C-47 Dakotas. From 1946 to 1953 it was controlled by No. 86 Wing, which was based in New South Wales at RAAF Station Schofields and, later, RAAF Station Richmond. In 1953 it was re-formed at Iwakuni, Japan, as part of No. 91 Wing. It returned to Australia and the aegis of No. 86 Wing in 1955. The squadron began re-equipping with Lockheed C-130 Hercules at Richmond in 1958, becoming the first non-US operator of the type. Over the next half-century it flew two models of Hercules, the C-130A and C-130H.
context_section_description: No. 36 Squadron handed over its six Dakotas to No. 38 Squadron in July 1958, prior to re-equipping with the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.  It returned to Richmond in August, followed by the rest of No. 86 Wing a month later. After conversion training of its personnel in the United States, No. 36 Squadron became the first non-US operator of the Hercules in December 1958, when it began taking delivery of twelve C-130As; deliveries completed in March 1959. The official history of the post-war Air Force described the Hercules as "probably the biggest step-up in aircraft capabilities" the RAAF had ever received, considering it roughly four times as effective as the Dakota, taking into account the improvements in payload, range, and speed. In September 1960, No. 36 Squadron began parachute trials on the Hercules. It made the Hercules' first troop-carrying flights into a combat zone in December 1962, joining a Commonwealth airlift from Singapore to Borneo at the onset of the Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia; similar missions were undertaken over the next five years. The squadron was again awarded the Gloucester Cup in 1963.
  In August 1964, No. 36 Squadron became an independently operating unit under the command of Headquarters RAAF Base Richmond, following the disbandment of No. 86 Wing. No. 486 Squadron was disbanded at the same time, leaving No. 36 Squadron  responsible for its own day-to-day maintenance until 1966; No. 486 Squadron was re-formed that year to service both No. 36 Squadron and No. 37 Squadron, the latter having taken delivery of twelve C-130E Hercules.  During the Vietnam War, both squadrons undertook long-range transport and medical evacuation flights between Australia and South East Asia, servicing Phan Rang, Vung Tau, and Nui Dat. No. 36 Squadron was presented with its own standard by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on 1 April 1971, in recognition of a quarter-century's service.  Eight of its twelve Hercules were involved in relief efforts after Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin, Northern Territory, on Christmas Eve 1974; the aircraft flew over 550 hours, carrying 2,864 passengers and almost 800,000 pounds (360,000 kg) of cargo. Having remained in service for twenty years, clocking up 147,000 accident-free flying hours, the C-130As were replaced by C-130Hs in 1978.
  In November 1978, one of No. 36 Squadron's C-130Hs became the first Australian Hercules to land in Antarctica, at McMurdo Sound. The squadron reached a total of 200,000 accident-free flying hours in C-130s during 1984. When No. 86 Wing was re-formed at Richmond on 2 February 1987, under the newly established Air Lift Group (later Air Mobility Group), No. 36 Squadron formed part of its complement. The unit again received the Gloucester Cup in 1989. That year, it  provided transport for civilian passengers during the pilots' dispute that curtailed operations by the two domestic airlines; three aircraft and five crews undertook this task, over and above their normal duties. The squadron reached 100,000 accident-free flying hours on the C-130H during 1990. In December 1990 and January 1991, it flew missions to Dubai in support of Australia's naval contribution to the Gulf War, and in 1993 transported Australian troops to Somalia as part of Operation Solace. Four of its C-130Hs were equipped with Electronic Warfare Self Protection packs, including radar and missile warning systems, and countermeasures such as chaff and flares, in 1994. Later in the decade, one of the C-130Hs was fitted with signals intelligence equipment and crewed by RAAF and Defence Signals Directorate personnel.
  Six of No. 36 Squadron's Hercules evacuated over 450 civilians from Cambodia following the coup in July 1997. The unit again became responsible for its own routine maintenance in 1998, when No. 486 Squadron was disbanded. A detachment from No. 36 Squadron supported INTERFET operations in East Timor between September 1999 and February 2000. The squadron was assigned four C-130Es previously operated by No. 37 Squadron during the latter's transition to the new C-130J Super Her
caption: C-130A Hercules of No. 36 Squadron
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