page_title: No. 37 Squadron RAAF
section_title: Re-establishment
hierarchical_section_title: No. 37 Squadron RAAF / History / Re-establishment
caption_attribution_description: A Royal Australian Air Force Lockheed C-130E Hercules aircraft (s/n A97-180) from No. 37 Squadron carrying support personnel and equipment for exercise "Cope Thunder" at Clark Air Base, Philippines, on 12 November 1981.
context_page_description: No. 37 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force medium tactical airlift squadron. It operates Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules aircraft from RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. The squadron has seen active service flying transport aircraft during World War II, the Vietnam War, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the military intervention against ISIL. It has also supported Australian humanitarian and peacekeeping operations around the world, including in Somalia, East Timor, Bali, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
  The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in July 1943, and equipped with Lockheed C-60 Lodestars that it operated in Australia, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies. Towards the end of the war it began flying Douglas C-47 Dakotas. It became part of No. 86 Wing, headquartered at RAAF Station Schofields, New South Wales, in 1946 but was disbanded two years later. In response to Australia's increasing air transport needs during the Vietnam War, the squadron was re-formed at Richmond in February 1966, and equipped with the C-130E Hercules. It converted to the C-130J model in 1999, and between 2006 and 2012 also operated C-130Hs formerly of No.
context_section_description: On 27 September 1965, Minister for Air Peter Howson announced that No. 37 Squadron was to be re-raised to operate twelve Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft that had been purchased by the Federal government; the new aircraft would allow the RAAF to support Australian deployments in South East Asia while continuing to meet its domestic commitments. The squadron was formed at RAAF Base Richmond on 21 February 1966, under the command of Wing Commander Ron McKimm. It joined No. 36 Squadron, which had been operating C-130A Hercules since 1958. No. 486 Squadron, disbanded in 1964, was re-formed at Richmond to provide maintenance for both Hercules squadrons; major repairs and upgrades to the C-130s were the responsibility of No. 2 Aircraft Depot (later No. 503 Wing). As the C-130E had a longer range and could carry a greater payload than the C-130A, No. 37 Squadron was generally assigned strategic tasks, while No. 36 Squadron's responsibilities were primarily tactical in nature. No. 37 Squadron began taking delivery of its C-130Es in August, and by the end of September its staff numbered eighty-six, including twenty-one officers. In February 1967, the squadron commenced long-range missions in support of Australian forces in the Vietnam War, including aero-medical evacuations conveying wounded soldiers back to Australia, generally via RAAF Base Butterworth, Malaysia. Initially both C-130A and E models were employed for such evacuations, but only C-130Es were assigned to this task from May 1967, as they offered more comfortable conditions and were capable of flying directly between South Vietnam and Australia if required. By the end of February 1968, No. 37 Squadron had a strength of 207 personnel: eighty-five aircrew, including fifty-one officers, and 122 ground staff, including three officers. The squadron transported the last Australian forces out of Vietnam in December 1972, following the Federal government's decision to withdraw from the conflict.
  As well as participating in military exercises and overseas peacekeeping commitments, the Hercules became a familiar sight in the Southern Pacific, called on for relief operations following many natural disasters including tsunamis in New Guinea, cyclones in the Solomons and Tonga, and fires and floods throughout Australia. It played a major role in the evacuation of civilians following Cyclone Tracy in Darwin in 1974–75; a No. 37 Squadron C-130E was the first aircraft to touch down in Darwin following the disaster. The squadron contributed eleven aircraft to the relief effort, carrying 4,400 passengers and 1,300,000 pounds (590,000 kg) of cargo. No. 37 Squadron aircraft took part in Operation Babylift, the US-led effort to evacuate the orphaned children of American servicemen from Vietnam in April 1975. Later that month, two of the squadron's aircraft were assigned to the United Nations (UN) to transport supplies throughout South East Asia; the C-130s' Australian roundels were painted over with UN symbols to signify the mission's neutrality. Commencing operations in May, the aircraft flew supplies into Laos and transported cargo between Thailand, Butterworth, Hong Kong and Singapore, completing ninety-one sorties by the time the mission ended in early June. The Hercules also evacuated Australian embassy personnel from Saigon, South Vietnam, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, following the end of the Vietnam War. No. 37 Squadron was awarded the Gloucester Cup by the Governor General in June 1976 for its performance in 1974–75.
  In January–February 1979, two No. 37 Squadron C-130Es evacuated Australian and other foreign embassy staff from Tehran, shortly before the collapse of royal rule during the Iranian Revolution. The same year, the squadron began operations with two ex-Qantas Boeing 707s, handing them over to No. 33 Flight (later No. 33 Squadron) at the beginning of 1981. No. 37 Squadron transported the Popemobiles on John Paul II's 1986 tour of Australia; its other unusual cargoes have included a stud bull presented to the Chinese government, kangaroos and sheep to Malaysia, and
caption: C-130E Hercules of No. 37 Squadron at Clark Air Base, Philippines, in November 1981
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