 No. 79 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) flight training unit that has been formed on four occasions since 1943 . The squadron was established in May 1943 as a fighter unit equipped with Supermarine Spitfires , and subsequently saw combat in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II . Between June 1943 and the end of the war in August 1945 it flew air defence patrols to protect Allied bases and ships , escorted Australian and United States aircraft , and attacked Japanese positions . The squadron was disbanded in November 1945 , but was re @-@ formed between 1962 and 1968 to operate CAC Sabres from Ubon Air Base in Thailand . In this role it contributed to the defence of Thailand against a feared attack from its neighbouring states and exercised with United States Air Force units . No. 79 Squadron was active again at RAAF Base Butterworth in Malaysia between 1986 and 1988 where it operated Mirage III fighters and a single DHC @-@ 4 Caribou transport during the period in which the RAAF 's fighter squadrons were transitioning to new aircraft . 
