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RAAF Base Amberley Facts

• RAAF Base Amberley is located in Queensland, 40km south west of Brisbane, near Ipswich.
   
• RAAF Base Amberley is the largest of Australia's Air Force bases. More than 3,500 people work there.
   
• The name Amberley was given to the area by Mr James Edwin Collett, a farmer who arrived from England in the 1850s. He called his 800-acre (324-hectare) dairy property 'Amberley' after his home village at the foot of the South Downs in West Sussex.
   
• Amberley was purchased in December 1938 as the site of the first permanent RAAF station in Queensland, and only the second base in northern Australia (after Darwin had been selected earlier that same year).
   
• RAAF Base Amberley became operational on 17 June 1940 with the formation of a Station Headquarters and No. 24 Squadron. The squadron, initially created as a general purpose unit, received its first aircraft (a De Havilland Moth Minor) on 4 July. Six days later, four Wirraways and a further two Moth Minors were added. Both these types of aircraft were built in Australia.
  
• During the latter half of 1940, No. 24 Squadron was re-equipped with Hudson bombers, and in December 1941, it deployed to Rabaul, New Guinea.
   
• From October until July 1942 the base was also home to No. 3 Service Flying Training School, operating a fleet of 54 Wirraways.
   
• Throughout 1942 there was a considerable American presence on the base, as newly-arrived US Army Air Force bomber and fighter squadrons assembled their aircraft before moving north.
   
• After the formation of No. 3 Aircraft Depot (3AD) in March 1942, Amberley was also an important aircraft assembly and engineering base for the RAAF. 3AD remained there until June 1992.
   
• After the end of World War II, Amberley became the base for No. 82 Bomber Wing, which then formed the RAAF's main strike element.
   
• Today, RAAF Base Amberley is home to the F-111 strike aircraft, and C-17 Globemaster heavy airlift aircraft.
   
• The area of land covered by RAAF Base Amberley has tripled since 1938 to reach approximately 910 hectares by 1987.
• In 2009, No. 33 Squadron, based at Amberley, will receive five new KC-30B multi-role (fuel) tanker transport aircraft. They will replace the older Boeing 707 (fuel) tankers which were retired from service in June 2008. The KC-30B is an Airbus A-330 passenger aircraft that has been converted so that it can be used as a multi-role (fuel) tanker transport. The primary role of these aircraft will be to refuel other aircraft, in mid air.
   
• The F-111 is a supersonic long-range strike aircraft operated by Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons at Amberley. They have a swing-wing that can be adjusted for different flight speeds, and when the wings are positioned fully back, the F-111 can fly at more than twice the speed of sound (the speed of sound is approximately 1,238 kilometres per hour).
  
• RAAF Base Amberley's No. 36 Squadron received its first C-17 Globemaster in December 2006, just before the unit transferred to Amberley from Richmond, NSW. The C-17 is a heavy airlift aircraft with the capacity to carry a huge load. It can fly for a very long time without having to refuel, and can take off from and land on dirt runways. This makes it ideal for humanitarian missions such as disaster relief and medical evacuations.
  
• Combat Support Group (CSG) is based at Amberley. It provides operational support services (such as security, rescue and fire services, catering, and engineering) to all RAAF bases, including those in remote areas of Australia's north and overseas. CSG has also assisted in humanitarian missions such as the tsunami relief operations in Sumatra in 2004, and the rebuilding of Innisfail in Queensland following the devastation of Cyclone Larry in 2006.
   
• The RAAF firefighting service began in January 1956, with the first firefighters trained at the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade. Later that year, the first RAAF Fire Training Centre was established at Base Squadron Point Cook. In 1987, the Fire Training Flight was transferred to the Security and Fire School at RAAF Base Amberley, where it now trains all the firefighters who provide rescue and firefighting services at bases throughout Australia. RAAF firefighters also serve overseas in places such as the Solomon Islands and the Middle East, and provide assistance to the Australian community when required.
  
• The Ground Defence Training Flight is based at Amberley and trains the RAAF's Airfield Defence Guards. These are the ground combat forces that protect Air Force bases in Australia and overseas. They are responsible for protecting an airfield and its personnel against attack by enemy ground forces for up to five kilometres from the perimeter fence.
   
• The RAAF Security Police work with Military Working Dogs to provide security at RAAF bases. The two breeds of dog currently used are the German Shepherd and the Belgian Shepherd Malinois. The dogs and their handlers are trained by the Military Working Dog Training Flight at Amberley. Their working environments can vary from modern air bases located near state capital cities, to bare bases located in remote regions of Australia. During their career, the Military Working Dog Handlers and their dogs could also be deployed to foreign locations such as recent missions to the Solomon Islands, the Middle East and East Timor.