In June 2014 a small number of SASR personnel were deployed to Iraq to protect the Australian embassy when the security of Baghdad was threatened by the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive . Later , in August and September a number of RAAF C @-@ 17 and C @-@ 130J transport aircraft based in the Middle East were used to conduct airdrops of humanitarian aid to trapped civilians and to airlift arms and munitions to forces in Kurdish @-@ controlled northern Iraq . In late September 2014 an Air Task Group ( ATG ) and Special Operations Task Group ( SOTG ) were deployed to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates as part of the coalition to combat Islamic State forces in Iraq . Equipped with F / A @-@ 18F Super Hornet strike aircraft , a KC @-@ 30A Multi Role Tanker Transport , and an E @-@ 7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft , the ATG began operations on 1 October . The SOTG is tasked with operations to advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces , and was deployed to Iraq after a legal framework covering their presence in the country was agreed between the Australian and Iraqi Governments . It began moving into Iraq in early November . In April 2015 a 300 @-@ strong unit known as Task Group Taji was deployed to Iraq to train the regular Iraqi Security Forces . Airstrikes were extended to Syria in September 2015 .