After World War II the conscripts of wartime returned to civilian life. The AOP Squadrons were reduced in number and the GPR reduced to just one Squadron. Gliders were no longer required as a means of transport so the surviving members of the GPR carried out liaison and reconnaissance and observation duties as Light Liaison Flights alongside their AOP counterparts. During the Korean Campaign the AOP and GPR Flights came together and formed a highly successful aviation combination.

During the Korean Campaign, the United States Army made most effective use of the helicopter. Therefore, in 1953/4, after Korea, a decision was taken to form a Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit (JEHU). This formed at Middle Wallop in 1955 and was proving highly successful in providing integral support to the Army. Then in 1956 it was decided that a Support Helicopter Flight from the JEHU would be deployed to Cyprus to assist the British Military in defeating EOKA, the terrorist organisation who were causing many problems. Also in 1956, Colonel Nasser, President of Egypt, decided to nationalise the Suez Canal. The JEHU ceased to be experimental and now deployed on board HMS Ocean to the eastern Mediterranean. On arrival they carried out the first amphibious airborne assault by ferrying Marines to the dockside at El Gamil. As the number of troops on the ground grew, they quickly completed the operation. The landing was completed within two hours and the whole operation was completed and position firm within six.

The value of the helicopter was proven but the Army was, at that stage, technically ill-equipped to maintain such a force. It was decided to give the Support Helicopter role to the RAF. However, it was also decided that the Army's aviation assets, in the form of the remaining AOP and GPR elements with their Auster 9 aeroplanes, should be reformed into what is today's Army Air Corps. On 1 September 1957 the AAC joined the Order of Battle of the Army with the primary roles of providing support in the form of observation and reconnaissance, artillery fire control, limited movement of men and materials and liaison. A number of additional roles soon evolved such as Forward Air Control, radio relay etc and the AAC soon established itself as an indispensable supporting arm. The Auster had insufficient passenger carrying capacity for the liaison role and so at the start of the 1960s the AAC acquired the six-seat DeHavilland Beaver.

In order for the AAC to integrate fully with those it supported, and to operate from field locations, it was necessary to acquire a light observation helicopter. The Saunders-Roe Skeeter was the first light helicopter. Seventy five were purchased and in order to integrate fully, flights of three helicopters each were established in many of the frontline units. Unfortunately the Skeeter lacked power and suffered from the same passenger seating problem as the Auster. It was therefore decided to purchase the Westland Scout helicopter. Due to various technical problems in the development of the Scout, fifteen Alouette 2 helicopters were purchased for liaison and casualty evacuation duties.

By 1969, the AAC operated the Sioux, Scout and Alouette 2 helicopters and the Beaver aeroplane. The Bell 47 Sioux, a more powerful observation helicopter, was procured as the performance of the Skeeter precluded its use in hot and high locations. Supervision and maintenance of the various Flights spread throughout the Army was becoming a problem so it was decided to centralise the Flights into Brigade Squadrons within Divisional Regiments. The WWII AOP Squadron numbers were dusted off and the beginnings of the present AAC Regimental system took shape. Each Division in the British Army had an AAC Regiment and there were also several other Flights providing support to other specialist organisations or remote locations.