During the early years of the Cold War , Australian defence planning assumed that in the event of the outbreak of a global war between the Western world and Eastern bloc countries it would need to contribute forces under collective security arrangements as part of the United Nations , or a coalition led by either the United States or Britain . The Middle East was considered the most likely area of operations for Australian forces , where they would most likely operate with British forces . Early commitments included the involvement of RAAF aircrew during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 – 49 and the deployment of No. 78 Wing RAAF to Malta in the Mediterranean from 1952 to 1954 . Meanwhile , defence preparedness initiatives included the introduction of a National Service Scheme in 1951 to provide manpower for the citizen forces of the Army , RAAF and RAN .