THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE—RAAF 1912 - 2026 (AI STUDY GUIDES)


Resources

These AIs were asked to prioritise the following resources for reference material:

JBGPT AI STUDY GUIDES BIBLIOGRAPHY TO INFORM AI


LIST OF RAAF HISTORY AI STUDY GUIDES

Guides were produced with AI support. I supplied the title and key points and configured a specialist GPT to structure the draft. I then revised it through further instructions. The ideas are mine; AI was used as an assistant, not an author.

Config used can be found here: https://www.jb-gpt-prompts.com/jb-config-military-history

Use the core points as your prompt. Paste them into your chosen AI, ask it to expand into as many structured key points as needed, and use follow-up questions to deepen or refine analysis. The framework keeps the response focused and within defined scope while allowing expansion from brief notes to a 5000 word paper.. 

Recommended further reading is drawn from a selected bibliography (https://www.ai-tutor-military-history.com/bibliography-jbgpt-ai). The result is a post that may be useful for self-directed study and allows the framing of further questions on the topic. 

RAAF EARLY DAYS 1912-39

  1. 1912 Oct: AFC Formation....Formation of Australian Army Flying Corps
  2. 1912 July: Petre and Harrison—Founders of Australian Military Aviation
  3. 1914 Apr: WWI—AFC OPS...From Point Cook to the Western Front: Birth of Australian Military Aviation
  4. 1915 Jul: WWI—Mesopotamia AFC OPS...The Australian Flying Corps in Mesopotamia and the Middle East
  5. 1917 July: WW1—HAMEL AFC OPS...The AFC at the Battle of Hamel
  6. 1918 Nov: WWI—Armistice and Legacy: The AFC’s Wartime Achievements
  7. 1918–21: RAAF’s Founding Paradox
  8. 1921 Mar: Sir Richard Williams and Formation of the RAAF 
  9. 1923-24: Imperial Conference on Defence Coordination 
  10. 1928 May: Interwar—Pioneering Air Routes and the Empire Air Mail Scheme
  11. 1934 Feb: Interwar—Defending the North: Darwin and Early Air Defence Plans
  12. 1935-42: Failure to Develop an Australian Fighter Capability
  13. 1937 May: Replacement of Sir Richard Williams as CAS.

RAAF WW2 1939-42

  1. 1939-45: RAAF. Overview WW2
  2. 1939–42 Jan: Australian and Japanese Racial and Cultural Assumptions in the Early Pacific War
  3. 1939 Sep: WW2—Mobilising for War: RAAF at the Outbreak of WW2
  4. 1940 July:  RAAF Nursing Service Established
  5. 1940 Aug: WW2—Empire Air Training Scheme: Australia’s Flying Contribution
  6. 1940 Aug: WW2—Fairbairn Air Crash Kills Key Australian Ministers and Generals 
  7. 1940 Sep: WW2—Australians Serving in the RAF during the Battle of Britain
  8. 1941-45: WW2—General Blamey and His Influence on RAAF Operations
  9. 1941-45: WW2—RAAF contribution to RAF Bomber Command
  10. 1941-45: WW2—460 SQN Example of RAAF Bomber Command SQN
  11. 1941-45: WW2—Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF)
  12. 1941 Jan: WW2—Desert War: Australians over North Africa and the Mediterranean
  13. 1941 Dec: WW2—Pearl Harbor and the RAAF’s First Pacific Battles
  14. 1941-42: WW2—RAAF Wirraways at Rabaul Outclassed in Combat 
  15. 1941-42: WW2—Defence of Port Moresby 

RAAF WW2 1942-45

  1. 1942-45: WW2—Partners Working with the USA
  2. 1942-45: WW2—Centralisation of Command Under USAAF
  3. 1942-45: WW2—General George Kenney
  4. 1942-45: WW2—Bostock and Jones: a Study in Political and Military Incompetence
  5. 1942 Feb: WW2—Darwin Bombed: The RAAF’s Defence of Northern Australia
  6. 1942 May: WW2— RAAF Support Battle of the Coral Sea
  7. 1942-July/Nov: WW2—RAAF Providing Support for Army Kokoda Track Campaign 
  8. 1942 July: WW2—RAAF Fuel Supply Established for New Guinea Campaign
  9. 1942 Aug: WW2—RAAF Support Battle for Milne Bay.
  10. 1942 Nov: WW2—FSGT Middleton VC: The RAAF’s First Victoria Cross
  11. 1942 Nov: WW2—Failure to Intercept Japanese Convoy (Preliminary to Battle of the Bismark Sea)
  12. 1942–43: WW2—The Richmond–Canberra Air Defence Debate 
  13. 1943 Mar: WW2—RAAF  Battle of the Bismarck Sea
  14. 1943 Aug: WW2—Attacking Japanese Strongholds
  15. 1943 Sep: WW2—RAAF Maintainer Training Expanded in New Guinea
  16. 1944 Jun: WW2—Catalinas and Liberators: Long-Range Strikes in the Pacific
  17. 1945 May: WW2—RAAF Morotai Mutiny and Command Crisis
  18. 1945 May: WW2—Victory Flights: RAAF’s Final Missions Over Borneo

THE COLD WAR ERA 1946-89


WAR ON TERROR ERA 1990-2014

  1. 1990 Nov: Gulf War—F/A-18 Hornets in Operation Desert Shield
  2. 1991 Mar: Gulf War—Operation Desert Storm: RAAF Air-to-Air Combat
  3. 1991 Oct: RAAF Boeing 707 Tanker Crash—A Crisis in Safety Management 
  4. 1992 Nov: Ending the ADF Ban on Homosexual and Lesbian Service
  5. 1994 Aug: RAAF Reform of Maintenance Training in the Nineties 
  6. 1998 June: RAAF Embraces Combined Air and Manoeuvre Doctrine
  7. 1999 Oct: Peacekeeping—East Timor: Airlift and Support Operations
  8. 2001 Sep: RAAF and the War on Terror  Operation Enduring Freedom
  9. 2003 Feb: RAAF Maintenance Training System Adapted for Modern Platforms 
  10. 2003 Mar: Iraq War—Hornets Over Iraq: RAAF in Operation Falconer
  11. 2003 Mar: RAAF Modernises with AP-3C Orion Upgrades (Surveillance/Reconnaissance)
  12. 2003 Apr: Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar (JORN)
  13. 2004 Oct: Formation of JOC as RAAF Commits to Joint Operations Concepts 
  14. 2006 Dec: RAAF Introduces Boeing C-17 Globemaster III 
  15. 2008 Aug: Afghanistan—Close Air Support and ISR: RAAF in Operation Slipper
  16. 2011 Apr: RAAF Skype Incident—Catalyst for Reform in ADF Treatment of Women
  17. 2011 Sep: RAAF Maintenance Training Enhanced for Joint Operations 
  18. 2014 Oct: Middle East—Strikes Against ISIS: Operation Okra Begins

THE  F-35 ERA 2015-26

  1. 2015 Jan: Fighter-Aircraft Generations—what the labels mean 
  2. 2015 Feb: Jericho RAAF Temporarily Designates Itself as a Fifth Generation Air Force
  3. 2016–17: Plan Jericho Implementation Phase 
  4. 2017 Dec: First Female RAAF Fighter Pilots Graduate 
  5. 2018 Dec: RAAF Introduces Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II 
  6. 2020 Mar: Humanitarian—RAAF Disaster Relief Operations in the Pacific
  7. Dec 2020: Establishment of the Air and Space Power Centre
  8. 2021 Mar: Centenary—100 Years of the RAAF: Heritage and Modern Air Power
  9. 2021 Nov: RAAF Maintenance Training System Advances in the 2020s
  10. 2023 Apr: Overview of Defence White Papers and implications for the RAAF
  11. 2023 Apr: Defence abandons White Paper model for biennial National Defence Strategy 
  12. 2023 Apr:  Interim Defence Strategic Review 
  13. 2023 May: Integration of Ghost Bat into IOC and Air Combat Capability Planning 
  14. 2023 Oct: RAAF Deploys E‑7A Wedgetail to Europe in Support of Ukraine (Operation Kudu) 
  15. 2024 Apr: National Defence Strategy
  16. 2025 Oct: Aeroskills Training Packages and Air Force
  17. 2026 Feb: RAAF Undergoes Fleet Modernisation Across ISR and Combat Domains
  18. 2026 Feb: 𝟐𝟎𝟐6 Feb: Bondi Terror Attack (Dec 2025) impact on Australian Defence and RAAF

Overviews as at Feb 2026

  1. 2025:  RAAF History Science and Research.
  2. 2025: The Home of the RAAF Point Cook History
  3. 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐎𝐜𝐭: The RAAF as an Independent Strategic Air Force