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The authority and restricted establishment number for the 21st Construction Squadron were raised on 25 November 1949. In December 1949, the final confirmation for raising the Squadron was promulgated. The first OC, MAJ Venn, was appointed on 25 January 1950, and Mr G.R. Vazenry in his "Military Forces of Victoria 1854 – 1967" study, denotes the formation date as 4 June 1950. As a result of differing dates, 25 January 1950 has been chosen as the birthday of the 21st Construction Squadron.

During December 1950, plans for accommodation and training facilities for National Service at Puckapunyal were finalised. Between 1954 and 1956, a major works program with expenditure of more than ?100,000 was carried out in the Puckapunyal area. The new Construction Squadron played an important part in building the new facilities and moved to Puckapunyal for the duration of the project.

The Squadron deployed to New Guinea in June 1962, augmented by a Troop from the 24th Construction Squadron and spent 12 months participating in road building, airfield construction and wharf construction. The Squadron also made additions to the base camp at Hoem and constructed brick married quarters for local government employees at Wewak.

Sabah, 1966

From November 1965 to June 1966, the Squadron relieved the 24th Construction Squadron in Sabah, Malaysia to carry out road works, which included erecting Bailey Bridges, class 30 timber bridges and Armco culverts. The Squadron also made improvements to the local school at Pandewas.

Malaysia, 1966

One of the more unfortunate incidents in the Squadron?s history occurred on 16 December 1970, when a fire completely destroyed the workshops, which were subsequently rebuilt by the Squadron.

One of the most popular projects completed by the Squadron was the construction of the Red Rooster Inn during 1979 as training for construction of the All Saints Chapel at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville. This project, affectionately known as "God?s Boozer" because of its resemblance to the All Saints Chapel, was a direct result of the "divine inspiration" of the OC, Major R.H. Frisch and its successful completion a tribute to Sapper ingenuity.

All Saints Chapel, 1979

In 1980, as a result of the reorganisation of 1 Division units and formation of the Logistic Support Group (LSG), Headquarters 1st Construction Regiment was raised to command 17, 21 and 22 Construction Squadrons. The 21st Construction Squadron was designated as the LSG Construction Squadron. Throughout the 1980s the Squadron participated in numerous LSG "Steady Pack" and "Full Pack" exercises and deployed for long periods to support other major Defence exercises.

Laying a slab, 1980

The Squadron also completed Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) Projects, and provided emergency assistance including flooding relief in Lae PNG (1983), construction of mess facilities in Tonga (1985), Explosive Ordnance Disposal support in the Solomon Islands (1988) and bush fire fighting support during the Ash Wednesday bushfires (1983).

Tonga, 1985

Of the tasks the Squadron faced in this decade, arguably the most notable was the Squadron?s move from Puckapunyal to Enoggera in 1993. The move was conducted concurrently with key construction tasks and saw many people deploy from Puckapunyal and return to barracks at Enoggera.

In 1998 the Squadron completed its first two ATSIC Army Community Assistant Program (AACAP). These included construction of a full waterborne sewerage system on Bickerton Island, NT and construction of 10 houses dispersed over the Elcho Island Group in the NT. These were the first of what has become a regular activity for the 21st Construction Squadron in subsequent years.

Camp Growl, 1997

In December 1999, the 21st Construction Squadron deployed to East Timor as a part of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET). The main role of the Squadron was to conduct road repair tasks during the monsoon season. With the assistance of Kenyan engineers and locally employed civilians, the Squadron maintained a high rate of effort and completed:

• a bridge at Viqueque,
• camp set-up and maintenance tasks for other units in East Timor,
• extensive road reconnaissance tasks and geographic information systems development,
• supply of crushed rock for road construction,
• concrete batching and supply, and
• numerous small construction tasks in the Dili region.

Elcho Island, 1998

The early years of the 21st Century saw the Squadron continue to improve infrastructure for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through AACAP in 2000, 2002 and 2004. The most recent project, AACAP 04, was conducted in the Northern Peninsula Area of Queensland and provided five houses, a waste management facility, a 21 lot subdivision, community training and health services to the communities of Bamaga, New Mapoon, Injinoo, Seisia and Umagico.

In 2001, the Squadron took part in Exercise Tandem Thrust, a combined Australian/US exercise, at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. The Squadron practiced horizontal and vertical construction in support of a deployed force, whilst providing a surge capacity to the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment.

Sergeant Donaldson, OP Sumatra Assist, 2005

In 2003 and 2005, the Squadron continued to support regional engagement through Defence Cooperation Program tasks in Papau New Guinea (PNG) and Tonga. The 21st Construction Squadron conducted road works at the Goldie River training depot in PNG in 2003 and returned in 2005 to construct a new Battalion HQ building at Taurama Barracks. Exercise Tongan Chief 03 involved a Squadron detachment constructing a new HQ building for the Tongan Defence Force.

In 2005, the Squadron designed and constructed a 400m open range on a greenfield site in the Wide Bay Training Area. The Range was funded by CSI-B and significantly enhances range infrastructure available to South East Queensland based units.

Woomera Range, 1988