It has also supported Australian humanitarian and peacekeeping operations around the world, including in Somalia, East Timor, Bali, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.

The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in July 1943, and equipped with Lockheed C-60 Lodestars that it operated in Australia, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies.

In response to Australia's increasing air transport needs during the Vietnam War, the squadron was re-formed at Richmond in February 1966, and equipped with the C-130E Hercules.

37 Squadron is tasked with medium tactical airlift in Australia and overseas, transporting troops and cargo, and conducting medical evacuation, search-and-rescue, and airdrop missions.

[1] Intermediate and heavy maintenance is contracted to Airbus Group Australia Pacific (airframe) and StandardAero (engines).

[2][6] The aircraft are generally crewed by two pilots and a loadmaster, the latter being responsible for the loading, carriage and unloading of cargo and passengers.

37 (Transport) Squadron was formed on 15 July 1943 at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, with a staff of two officers and thirteen airmen.

[15] By mid-1944, the squadron had expanded its operations to New Guinea, making courier flights to Merauke initially, and later Wewak, Noemfoor and Hollandia.

Their primary duty was supporting the Australian military, though they could also be released for urgent requests by General Douglas MacArthur's South West Pacific Area headquarters.

[21] A Lodestar crashed and burned on takeoff at Merauke on 26 January 1945 but all aboard escaped injury; it was the only hull loss suffered by the type in Australian service.

[15][23] The next month it began operating detachments out of Parafield, South Australia, and Morotai in the Dutch East Indies.

[24][25] On 6 July 1945, one of the squadron's Dakotas transported the body of Prime Minister John Curtin from Canberra to Perth for burial.

37 Squadron began taking delivery of its C-130Es in August, and by the end of September its staff numbered eighty-six, including twenty-one officers.

[36][37] In February 1967, the squadron commenced long-range missions in support of Australian forces in the Vietnam War, including aero-medical evacuations conveying wounded soldiers back to Australia, generally via RAAF Base Butterworth, Malaysia.

[36][38] Initially both C-130A and E models were employed for such evacuations, but only C-130Es were assigned to this task from May 1967, as they offered more comfortable conditions and were capable of flying directly between South Vietnam and Australia if required.

[41] As well as participating in military exercises and overseas peacekeeping commitments, the Hercules became a familiar sight in the Southern Pacific, called on for relief operations following many natural disasters including tsunamis in New Guinea, cyclones in the Solomons and Tonga, and fires and floods throughout Australia.

[36] The squadron contributed eleven aircraft to the relief effort, carrying 4,400 passengers and 1,300,000 pounds (590,000 kg) of cargo.

37 Squadron aircraft took part in Operation Babylift, the US-led effort to evacuate the orphaned children of American servicemen from Vietnam in April 1975.

Later that month, two of the squadron's aircraft were assigned to the United Nations (UN) to transport supplies throughout South East Asia; the C-130s' Australian roundels were painted over with UN symbols to signify the mission's neutrality.

Commencing operations in May, the aircraft flew supplies into Laos and transported cargo between Thailand, Butterworth, Hong Kong and Singapore, completing ninety-one sorties by the time the mission ended in early June.

37 Squadron C-130Es evacuated Australian and other foreign embassy staff from Tehran, shortly before the collapse of royal rule during the Iranian Revolution.

37 Squadron transported the Popemobiles on John Paul II's 1986 tour of Australia; its other unusual cargoes have included a stud bull presented to the Chinese government, kangaroos and sheep to Malaysia, and an exhibition of China's Entombed Warriors.

[5][56] Its aircraft formed part of a detachment of C-130s supporting INTERFET forces in East Timor between September 1999 and February 2000, under Operation Warden.

38 Squadron as part of the RAAF's initial contribution to Operation Papua New Guinea Assist following Cyclone Guba in November 2007.

37 Squadron undertook a successful search-and-rescue mission for Alain Delord, a missing round-the-world yachtsman who was found approximately 500 nautical miles (930 km) south of Tasmania.

Crews located Delord adrift in a life raft before airdropping supplies, maintaining watch and ultimately guiding in a rescue vessel fifty-eight hours later.

[2][72] That November, the squadron deployed to the Philippines to participate in humanitarian relief operations in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

37 Squadron based in the Middle East were involved in the airdrop of humanitarian supplies to civilians in Iraq following an offensive by Islamic State forces.

The first drop occurred on the night of 13/14 August, when one of the squadron's C-130Js took part in a 16-aircraft mission including US C-17s and C-130Hs and a British C-130J that delivered supplies to Yezidi civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar.

[79][80] One of the C-130s flew from Australia to Antarctica in February 2020, the first time a RAAF Hercules had done so since 1983, to provide equipment for the Australian Antarctic Division near Casey Station.