No. 88 Squadron is a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) training unit. It is responsible for developing air combat tactics and training the RAAF's air warfare instructors, and forms part of the force's Tactics and Training Directorate.

History and role

A September 2017 article in ''Australian Aviation'' stated that No. 88 Squadron was "newly formed". The squadron forms part of the RAAF's Tactics and Training Directorate, which also comprises the Air Warfare School. The directorate is an element of the

Air Warfare Centre The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal Air Force research and testing organisation based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. It has a training branch nearby as a lodger unit of RAF Cranwell and other branches elsewhere, including a ...

. No. 88 Squadron is responsible for developing air combat tactics and training the RAAF's elite Air Warfare Instructors. As part of this role it conducts air warfare instructor courses. No. 88 Squadron is based at

RAAF Base Williamtown RAAF Base Williamtown is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located north of the coastal city of Newcastle ( by road) in the local government area of Port Stephens, in New South Wales, Australia. The base serves as the h ...

; this allows it to be co-located with the headquarters of many of the RAAF's fighter and surveillance units. Each air warfare instructor course runs for five months, and training is provided in six specialist domains involving the RAAF's combat and surveillance aircraft types. In April 2018 the squadron was awarded the perpetual Markowski Cup for being the RAAF's most proficient support unit during 2017.

References

{{Military units and formations of the Royal Australian Air Force 88 88