No 65 Squadron was formed

Motto: Without Impediment

No 65 Squadron was formed on 1 July 2015 under the command of WGCDR Justin Cockroft. It forms part of No 95 Wing of the Combat Support Group. The Squadron's headquarters are located at RAAF Base Townsville in Queensland. It contains two flights: A Flight based in Townsville, Queensland, and B Flight at Richmond in New South Wales.

No 65 Squadron provides air base recovery functions and support for expeditionary operations. The Squadron has two main capabilities: airfield engineering and explosive ordinance demolition. The number 5 in the Squadron's name is a direct reference to the No 5 Airfield Construction Squadron and the number 6 refers to No 6 Bomb Disposal Squad, which was the last such squad to disband after World War II.

To form No 65 Squadron, the Explosive Ordnance Demolition Flight of No 1 Security Forces Squadron and the Airfield Engineering Flight of No 383 Contingency Response Squadron were brought under the interim management of No 95 Wing. When first formed, the Squadron's headquarters were at RAAF Base Amberley in South East Queensland, but later relocated to RAAF Base Townsville in Queensland’s north.

The Squadron has been involved in various operations such as Accordion (Middle East), Highroad (Afghanistan), Render Safe (Solomon Islands, Russell Islands), Kingswood 17 (Australia), Atlas (Australia), and Bushfire Assist (Australia). In September 2015, a team from No 65 Squadron constructed a multi-purpose temporary hangar at RAAF Base Learmonth in just three months as a great demonstration of their capability. They also built an unsealed apron at Bathurst Airport for the local cadets to utilise.

In 2017, No 65 Squadron was the first and last unit into and out of Avalon, Victoria, as they were heavily involved in the establishment and deconstruction of what was required for the 2017 Avalon International Airshow.

The Squadron won the Markowski Cup in April 2019.

To learn more, see this extract from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force by Despina Tramoundanis.