3 Squadron was first established in October 1934, operating Hawker Audax fighter/army cooperation aircraft from Rasheed Air Base in Baghdad.

[2][3] The squadron participated in its first combat operations during the 1935-1936 Iraqi Shia revolts, and lost one of its aircraft to machine-gun fire.

[4] However, in March 1942, Rasheed Air Base was suddenly flooded, and the squadron's remaining aircraft were destroyed.

[8] Later, the unit specialised in heavy and VIP transport: as of 1958, it was Doves, Freighters and de Havilland Herons from Rasheed Air Base.

Despite its specialisation in VIP transport,[14] during the October War the squadron participated in the Iraqi air bridge to Egypt and Syria with its Herons and Tu-124s.

[17] The 3rd Squadron was recreated in 2004, and received six Comp Air 7SLs donated by the United Arab Emirates, starting in November 2004.

[18] Meanwhile, in 2005-2006 the 3rd Squadron received four SAMA CH2000s at Kirkuk Air Base for reconnaissance and training tasks.

[20] Starting in 2008, the 3rd Squadron received Cessna 208s in three different variants: the TC-208B for training, the RC-208B for ISR, and the AC-208B counterinsurgency attack aircraft.

The squadron's AC-208s were heavily used, including during combat operations: by the end of July 2015, they had launched more than 1,600 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.