Oakey Army Aviation Centre is situated approximately from the town centre of Oakey in Queensland, Australia. It provides a training establishment for Australian Army Aviation, and also hosts the Republic of Singapore Air Force's "Cougar" 126 Squadron. The Defence name for the facility is Swartz Barracks, named for prominent politician, Army Aviation advocate, and ex-POW Sir Reginald Swartz. History The base was constructed in 1943 by the Royal Australian Air Force as RAAF Base Oakey. It was a training facility, for No.6 Aircraft Depot and an overflow aircraft maintenance depot for RAAF Base Amberley. It stored surplus aircraft after the war. In July 1968, the Australian Army Aviation Corps was formed, with the Department of Civil Aviation aerodrome at Oakey transferred to Army control in July 1969 for the Corps base. The 6 Aviation Squadron (Reconnaissance) relocated from RAAF Amberley. Army Aviation units were raised, including the Headquarters Army Aviation Centre to control the airfield, and the Army Aviation Centre Base Squadron. By the end of 1973, the remainder of 1st Aviation Regiment had relocated, including the School of Army Aviation formed from the Training Squadron, and the 5 Base Workshop Battalion of the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) to provide fleet maintenance. 173 General Support Squadron and 171 Command and Liaison Squadron were formed at Oakley. During the period up to the early 1990s, aircraft types operating from the base included Bell OH-58 Kiowa, Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk, Pilatus Porter, and GAF Nomad. In 1998, the Army Aviation Training Centre (AAvnTC) was formed at Oakey to command the School of Army Aviation (SAA), the Australian Defence Force Helicopter School, later renamed the Army Helicopter School (AHS) and the RAEME Aircraft Maintenance School, later renamed the Rotary Wing Aircraft Maintenance School (RAMS). In 2001, the Army Helicopter School was moved from RAAF Fairbairn to Oakey. In 2004, the Iroquois helicopters from the 1st Aviation Regiment at Oakey were moved to the 5th Aviation Regiment in Townsville. During 2005–06, the 1st Aviation Regiment moved its Headquarters, technical and logistic support squadrons and other elements to Robertson Barracks in Darwin. In 2006, a disbandment parade was held at Oakey for the last independent RAEME Workshop. In 2007, Boeing Australia was given the Army Aviation Training and Training Support (AATTS) contract, and commenced providing pilot, aircrew and technician training for the Kiowa and Black Hawk helicopters and operational