Australia — Commemorative Service for 90th Birthday of Air Force

The Roy­al Aus­tralian Air Force (RAAF) today marked its birth­day with an annu­al com­mem­o­ra­tive ser­vice and the addi­tion of Bat­tle Hon­ours to the RAAF Memo­r­i­al.
The Chief of Air Force, Air Mar­shal Mark Bin­skin AO used his address as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to remem­ber those that gave their lives in ser­vice to Aus­tralia in the last 90 years.

“Air Force has a proud his­to­ry of 90 years of ser­vice. Dur­ing our past 90 years, some of our peo­ple have paid the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice serv­ing Air Force, serv­ing our nation. 

“It is impor­tant we remem­ber those that came before us, and recog­nise the role they have played in our success. 

“Air Force has built some strong tra­di­tions over the past 90 years, and I am con­fi­dent that the peo­ple of Air Force will con­tin­ue to inno­vate, and embrace emerg­ing tech­nol­o­gy and capa­bil­i­ty, to retain our rep­u­ta­tion as the ‘best small Air Force in the world,” Air Mar­shal Bin­skin said. 

In 2011 the Roy­al Aus­tralian Air Force cel­e­brates its 90th Birth­day with the theme tra­di­tion, inno­va­tion, evolution. 

The fol­low­ing Bat­tle Hon­ours were unveiled: 

PHILIPPINES 1944 — For oper­a­tions as prepa­ra­tion for or as part of the Allied inva­sion of the Philip­pines between 1 July 1944 and 31 Decem­ber 1944. 

MALAYA 1948 TO 1960 - For oper­a­tions against Com­mu­nist Ter­ror­ists on the Malay Penin­su­lar between 16 June 1948 and 31 July 1960. 

THAI-MALAY 1960 TO 1966 — For air oper­a­tions in direct sup­port of ground com­bat forces oper­at­ing in the Thai-Malay bor­der region from 1 August 1960 to 30 March 1966. 

MALAYSIA (CONFRONTATION) 1962 TO 1966 — For oper­a­tions in the defence of Malaysian ter­ri­to­ries in Bor­neo between 8 Decem­ber 1962 and 11 August 1966, or for oper­a­tions in defence of the Malay Penin­su­lar and Sin­ga­pore from 17 July 1963 to 11 August 1966. 

UBON, THAILAND 1962 TO 1968 — For oper­a­tions in the defence of Thai­land from 31 May 1962 to 31 August 1968. 

EAST TIMOR 1999 TO 2000 - For oper­a­tions as part of the Inter­na­tion­al Force for East Tim­or (INTERFET) or in sup­port of INTERFET with­in 100 nau­ti­cal miles of East Tim­or between 20 Sep­tem­ber 1999 and 23 Feb­ru­ary 2000. 

IRAQ 2003 - For oper­a­tions with­in Iraq as part of Oper­a­tion FALCONER from 18 March to 16 July 2003.

Media con­tact:
Defence Media Oper­a­tions 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia 

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