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Clark Field
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Balmy nights, coconut palm-line boulevards, puffy white clouds, clear blue skies and ice-cold San Miguel beer, those are the things that many veterans remember about their time at Clark Field, Philippines during the period from the 1920s to the 1980s when Clark was a major US Army Air Corps and US Air Force installation in the Southwest Pacific. For many of us who were there, Clark is our favorite military base and the memories of the time we spent there will remain with us forever.
I was in and out of Clark many times as a C-130 and C-5 crewmember and was based there from February 1969 to September 1970 as a loadmaster with the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing.
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History
Pre-WW II
In the years before World War II, Clark Field was the flying field at Fort Stotsenberg, a US Army post located some 70 miles northwest of Manila. Stotsenberg was primarily a cavalry base. In the fall of 1941 the United States began beefing up military air power in the Philippines and several combat groups flying P-40 fighters and B-17 Flying Fortresses were disbatched to Clark.
World War II
Although popular myth relates that the Japanese caught the Army Air Corps in the Philippines un-prepared, in reality P-40 fighters were airborne on combat patrols when the first enemy airplanes appeared in Philippines skies the morning after the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the first air attacks were aimed at the radar station at Iba, an airfield on the west coast of Luzon, and the destruction of the station deprived the Army of all air raid early warning. To prevent the destruction of the B-17s on the ground, all airplanes at Clark were ordered aloft. But when the American commanders decided to launch attacks on Japanese positions on Formosa, they landed to refuel and arm with bombs. A fighter patrol was airborne northeast of Clark and failed to detect the arrival of a large formation of Japanese planes that bombed Clark Field and destroyed or damaged many of the B-17s. However, the P-40s and remaining B-17s as well as others that had been sent south to Mindanao fought valiantly against the Japanese for several weeks until the General MacArthur ordered the withdrawal of his forces onto the Bataan Peninsula.
With the surrender of US forces on Bataan, the Japanese occupied Clark Field and made it a major base. By late 1944 Clark was the target for formations of B-24 Liberator bombers operating from airfields on islands that had been captured from the Japanese north of Java. With the invasion of the Philippines and the arrival of American P-38s at Leyte, Clark was the scene of several air battles. With the liberation of Central Luzon, Clark once again became a US Army airfield as B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs and P-38s moved in to replace the defeated Japanese.
Post-War
With the end of World War II, Clark became a major base of the US Far East Air Forces. One of the units on the base was the famous 3rd Bomb Group, which had fought all the way from Australia to the Philippines. A super-secret squadron flying black B-29s was based at Clark - the airplanes departed on missions that many people believed were deep into Communist Chinese airspace.
Korean War
Clark units - including the 3rd Bomb Group - participated in the war in Korea. Clark itself was much further from the war than other American bases in Japan and on Okinawa.
Cold War
When the Korean War ended in a truce, Clark became a major base for US activities in Southeast Asia in support of the French in their war in Indochina. Far East Air Forces transports flew cargo from Clark to bases in Indochina. When the US decided to provide C-119 "Flying Boxcar" transports to the French, the French and American civilian crews who flew them were trained at Clark.
Vietnam
As the closest major United States Air Force installation to Southeast Asia, Clark was an important facility during the Vietnam War. Until the Seventh Air Force was created in Saigon, responsibility for all operations in Southeast Asia fell under Thirteenth Air Force, which was headquartered at Clark. All USAF units in Thailand were part of Thirteenth, as were those based on Taiwan. Several Clark units were major players in the conflict, including the 8th and 13th Bomb Squadrons who flew B-57 Canberra attack bombers and the 463rd Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Wing which was based at Clark but provided C-130s and crews for airlift operations in South Vietnam. The Air Force Jungle Survival School at Clark was a regular stop for aircrew members enroute to Southeast Asia and the Military Airlift Command aerial port serviced MAC transports enroute to and from the combat zone.
Return to Cold War
With the end of the Vietnam War, Clark returned to Cold War status. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, the United States shortened the 99-year lease on the base and in 1980 Clark reverted to Philippines controls with the USAF installation as a tenant. The United States closed its facilities on Clark and reassigned all units when the eruption of nearby Mt. Pinatabo turned much of the base into a sea of ashen mud.
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