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Forty aircrew, maintenance, and support personnel from 37 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force received an official send-off by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Defense Minister Robert Hill, and Chief of Air Force Angus Houston before being deployed to Iraq last September. The ceremony, held at RAAF Richmond near Sydney, was also attended by RAAF families. The 37 Squadron along with two C-130J Hercules aircraft replaced 36 Squadron, which has been deployed to the Middle East since February 2003 as part of Operation Catalyst (Australia's contribution to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq). This deployment marked the first service to Iraq for the RAAF C-130Js, which were fitted with a self-protection suite before being deployed.
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