The flightline at RAAF Base Richmond has launched countless C-130 Hercules missions around the globe – and now, it has also launched the official history of those achievements.

‘The Air Mobility Workhorse – C-130 Hercules in Royal Australian Air Force service’ was commissioned by the Air Force History and Heritage Branch.

It tells the story of Australia’s C-130A, E, and H-model Hercules fleet from 1958 to 2012.

The two-volume official history was launched by its author, Air Commodore (retired) William Kourelakos, on September 27 during RAAF Richmond Air Show 2025.

Since their introduction to Australian service in 1958, Hercules have operated from RAAF Base Richmond – a connection longer than any other C-130 operating base in the world.

Tens of thousands of RAAF personnel have flown and supported the venerable transport from the base, carrying essential personnel and cargo around the world.

Air Commodore Kourelakos’ own association with the Hercules began as a navigator with the Canadian Armed Forces in the late 1980s, before joining the RAAF in 1997.

His career continued with C-130s and air mobility, including as Commander Air Mobility Group at RAAF Base Richmond from December 2017 to February 2020, before his retirement from full-time service.

But the RAAF still had one more C-130 mission for Air Commodore Kourelakos – writing a 30,000-word official history of the aircraft.

“The scope of the C-130’s history in Australian service meant that each chapter alone would have to be that long,” Air Commodore Kourelakos said.

History and Heritage Branch extended the history to two volumes – one detailing the C-130’s acquisition and service from 1958 to 1987; the other covering 1987 to 2012.

It doesn’t include the C-130Js introduced from 1999, whose list of achievements are still being written as the fleet continues its RAAF service into the future.

The official history details the evolution of the first three models of Hercules flown by the RAAF, including the crew training and tactics that allowed them to fly increasingly challenging environments.

“The scope of this book was well laid out by the History and Heritage Branch, but the time span and breadth of the audience meant that the research effort was enormous,” Air Commodore Kourelakos said.

“Fortunately everyone I contacted – I had over 100 contributors - was eager to help me reconstruct the historical record.”

“The one thing I learned was to dig beyond the first evidence I found because there were often conflicting versions of events and errors in the written records.”

The C-130’s introduction to RAAF service in 1958 was revolutionary, as air transport crews at the time used the same aircraft and dated practices passed down from the Second World War.

“The C-130 was transformational in that it brought leading edge technology, training systems, and capability, the likes of which aircrew, strategic planners and maintainers had never dreamed of,” Air Commodore Kourelakos said.

“It changed the RAAF in many ways.”

RAAF C-130 missions have spanned from the Vietnam War to the Middle East, evacuations of embassies and disaster relief following Cyclone Tracy and the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.

The ability to carry large numbers of people or cargo and land at remote airfields across the world has helped cement the C-130’s place as the RAAF’s longest continuously-operated aircraft type.

“The capability was so adaptable that it gave the government of Australia reach and influence that it had never had before,” Air Commodore Kourelakos said.

“With the C-130, Australia became a regional power.”

Across the 54-year span of history covered in Air Mobility Workhorse, Air Commodore Kourelakos said the throughline was an innovative spirit and can-do attitude of RAAF squadrons – including 36 and 37 – and 486 Squadron.

“It comes out again and again in the stories of those that flew and supported this truly amazing aircraft,” Air Commodore Kourelakos said.

In his own time, Air Commodore Kourelakos continues sharing these stories through interviews with past and present members of the C-130 community via a podcast, ‘Workhorse – RAAF C-130s’.

Air Mobility Workhorse is available through Big Sky Publishing and Big W, along with most Australian online book sellers.