 No. 79 Squadron was re @-@ formed a third time on 1 July 1998 as a training unit located at RAAF Base Pearce near Perth in Western Australia . The squadron was re @-@ established by separating No. 25 Squadron 's Permanent Air Force ( full @-@ time ) component from its Air Force Reserve ( part @-@ time reservist ) personnel and responsibilities . The squadron initially operated <unk> MB @-@ 326 aircraft before being re @-@ equipped with Hawk 127 aircraft between 7 December 2000 and 4 March 2001 . In 2000 No. 78 Wing was re @-@ formed and assumed command of No. 76 and No. 79 Squadrons . The Hawks experienced serviceability problems during their first 18 months with the squadron , but these were eventually rectified . During October 2003 two No. 79 Squadron Hawks conducted a tour of Australia to belatedly commemorate the unit 's 60th anniversary . During this tour the aircrew visited Alan Rawlinson at his home at Naracoorte , South Australia , and later conducted a flyover of the town in his honour . The squadron made its first overseas deployment in almost twenty years during April 2006 when six Hawks and 52 personnel were dispatched to RMAF Base Butterworth to take part in Exercise Bersama Shield . This was also the first time RAAF Hawks had operated overseas . As of May 2010 , No. 79 Squadron was equipped with 15 of the RAAF 's 33 Hawks . In 2011 , the squadron was organised into a Training Flight , Operations Flight , and Maintenance Flight . A program to modernise all of the RAAF 's Hawks to a similar standard to the Royal Air Force 's Hawk T.2 aircraft began in 2014 , and No. 79 Squadron is scheduled to begin operations with these aircraft in mid @-@ 2017 . The unit 's Maintenance Flight was disbanded in July 2016 when responsibility for support services for the Hawks was transferred to BAE Systems . 
