List of military units of Clark Air Base Military units of Clark Air Base consisted primarily of United States Army and United States Air Force organizations . Major commands . Clark Air Base was assigned to the following major commands : Note : * Clark Field was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army between 20 December 1941 – 10 February 1945 . Major units assigned . Cold War ( 1950 – 1991 ) . . * Performed Host Unit Mission Military units before WWII . Clark Air Base was originally established as Fort Stotsenburg in Sapang Bato , Angeles in 1903 under control of the U . S . Army . Officers ' quarters and water system constructed 1910 – 1911 and a flying school was created in 1912 . Construction of steel hangars and a dirt air strip 1917 – 1918 ; a portion of Ft Stotsenburg officially set aside for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps and named Clark Fld , September 1919 . The 3d Aero Squadron was assigned to Clark Field in December 1919 and for the next decade functioned as an observer training unit flying a wide variety of mono and biplanes . In 1922 , the 28th Squadron ( Bomb ) was assigned as a defense force for the Philippines . Clark served as a landing field for medium bombers and accommodated half of the heavy bombers stationed in the Philippines during the 1930s . In the late summer and fall of 1941 , many aircraft were sent to Clark in anticipation of war with Imperial Japan . Six B - 17Cs and 29 B - 17Ds were serving with the 19th Bombardment Group based at Clark The 14th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bombardment Group had been transferred to the Philippines in September 1941 in a spectacular trans - Pacific flight to Clark Field , and two more squadrons had flown to Clark in October . Military units during WWII . Clark and its subordinate airfield at Del Monte were the only airfields in the Philippines capable of heavy bomber operations at the outbreak of World War II . News of the Pearl Harbor attack was received at about 3 am on 8 December in the Philippines . According to the previously - agreed upon plan , if hostilities were to break out , an attack on Japanese bases in Formosa was to be immediately carried out by the 19th Bombardment Group ' s Fortresses . On 8 December , there were 35 USAAC B - 17s in the Philippines , with two squadrons at Clark Field on Luzon with a total of 19 planes , and two squadrons at Del Monte on Mindanao 500 miles to the south with the other 16 B - 17s . For reasons which are still unclear even today , the planned raid on Formosa was delayed . Instead , in order to prevent them from being destroyed on the ground by a Japanese air attack , all flyable B - 17s based at Clark Field had been ordered into the air and to patrol the waters around Luzon . In the meantime , General Lewis H . Brereton , General MacArthur ' s air commander , finally got approval to carry out the strike against Japanese bases on Formosa , and the B - 17s were recalled to Clark . When the Fortresses returned to Clark , three of them were equipped with cameras for reconnaissance and the remainder were loaded up with 100 - lb and 300 - lb bombs in preparation for the planned mission to Formosa . The three reconnaissance B - 17s were taxiing out for the initial photographic mission to Formosa when about 200 Japanese aircraft struck . Unfortunately , all the P - 40 fighters had been recalled for refuelling and were on the ground . . At the end of the day ' s action it was apparent that the Japanese had won a major victory . The effective striking power of Far East AF had been destroyed , the fighter strength had been seriously reduced , most B - 17 maintenance facilities were demolished , and about 80 men were killed . The sole surviving B - 17 had not taken off on the morning alert , and had been taken up in the air while the rest were being prepared for the Formosa raid . The Fortresses at Del Monte 500 miles to the south were out of range of the Zeros from Formosa and were left untouched . At Clark Field , three or four of the damaged B - 17s were put back into service . They were joined by the B - 17s from Del Monte . By 9 December , reconnaissance missions were being undertaken by the 19th Bombardment Group in search of the Japanese fleet . Also , the 17th Pursuit Squadron ( Interceptor ) , 24th Pursuit Group ( Interceptor ) , based at Nichols Field were transferred to Clark with P - 40 ' s . On 10 December , a Japanese convoy was spotted , and five B - 17s were dispatched . This was the first American bombardment mission of World War II . No fighter opposition was encountered , and some hits were recorded on the transports . That same day , a B - 17C piloted by Captain Colin P . Kelly dropped bombs from high altitude on what the crew thought to be a Japanese battleship . Hits were recorded , and a tremendous explosion was observed . Kelly ' s plane was immediately pounced upon by Zeros , one of which was flown by Saburo Sakai , who was later to become a famous ace . Kelly guided his heavily - damaged plane back towards Clark Field . He ordered the crew to parachute to safety , but before Kelly himself could leave , the aircraft exploded and Kelly was killed . When the surviving crew was questioned , the report was flashed out that they had sunk the Japanese battleship Haruna , and the mission was hailed as a great victory . Captain Kelly was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by President Franklin Roosevelt for his heroism , and was written up in glowing press reports . However , information revealed in the immediate postwar years revealed that the Haruna was nowhere near the area at that time and that the ship most likely struck was the cruiser Ashigari , and it was only fairly lightly damaged by the attack . On 12 December , about 100 Japanese aircraft again hit Clark . The airfield is severely damaged and plans were made to evacuate the facility . On the 19th , the air echelon of the 93d Bombardment Squadron ( Heavy ) , 19th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) were transferred from Clark to Batchelor Field near Darwin , Northern Territory , Australia with B - 17 ' s . The ground echelon is attached to the 5th Interceptor Command ( Provisional ) and sent to fight as infantry on Luzon and Mindanao Islands . On Christmas Eve , HQ 19th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) and the air echelon of the 28th Bombardment Squadron ( Heavy ) were transferred from Clark to Batchelor Field with B - 17 ' s . The ground echelon of the 28th were dispatched to fight as infantry on Luzon and Mindanao . The remaining aircraft and personnel at Clark were evacuated to Australia by 31 December 1941 . The base was overrun by Japanese forces less than a week later in early January 1942 . Japanese occupation . During the period of Japanese occupation , Clark was known as Mabalacat Airfield , and several auxiliary airfields constructed and used . Lilly Hill , located near the center of the base ( 15 * 11 ' 35 . 96 " N 120 * 32 ' 05 . 14 " E ) , was excavated to allow tunnels to be built into its sides for the storage of fuel and munitions in an attempt to protect them from air raids . After the war Lilly Hill ( named for the Papanga word for lonely ) was so dangerous , because of the large number of unexploded bombs , the jungle was allowed to over take the hill for a decade . When it was finally reclaimed at least one Japan ese fighter aircraft was found to have crashed there . The Japanese also dug tunnels and built stone revetments in the ridge line at the north side of Clark ( 15 * 13 ' 03 . 83 " N 120 * 32 ' 05 . 14 " E ) . The Americans later built their Northern bomb storage facility at the east end of the ridge , the horse stables on the southern side , the rifle range to the north , and the " Elephant cage " to the west . Japan | The airfield was fortified with several Type 88 75 mm AA Gun s . Several USAAF B - 24 Liberator bombers flying over Clark were shot down by these weapons . With the surrender of Bataan and the infamous Bataan Death March in April 1942 , American and Filipino prisoners were marched past the main gate of the airfield . In late 1944 , with the tide of the war turning against the Japanese , Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi decided to form a suicide attack force , the Special Attack Unit . In a meeting at Mabalacat , on 19 October 1944 , Onishi told officers of the 201st Flying Group headquarters : that he believed the only way to retain control of the Philippines was to put 250 - kg bombs on Zero fighter planes and crash them into U . S . carriers , to wreak havoc on the U . S . Fleet and disable them for weeks . Commanded by Ōnishi , the first Kamikaze missions were launched from the occupied Clark Air Base . The first volunteers were 23 pilots of the Imperial Japanese Navy ' s 201st Kokutai , 1st Air Fleet . These were divided into four separate groups : Shikishima , Yamato , Asahi and the Yama Yukio Seki units . At 07 : 25 on 25 October 1944 , the Shikishima unit departed Clark led by Lieutenant Yokjo Seki . At 10 : 45 am they attacked U . S . ships stationed at Leyte Island , Philippines during the Battle of Leyte Gulf . Five Zeros , led by Seki , and escorted to the target by leading Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa , attacked several escort carriers . One Zero attempted to hit the bridge of the USS Kitkun Bay but instead exploded on the port catwalk and cartwheeled into the sea . Two others dove at USS Fanshaw Bay but were destroyed by anti - aircraft fire . The last two ran at the USS White Plains , however one , under heavy fire and trailing smoke , aborted the attempt on the White Plains and instead banked toward the USS St . Lo , plowing into the flight deck . Its bomb caused fires that resulted in the bomb magazine exploding , sinking the carrier . 1945 recapture . Clark Air Base was recaptured by Americans in January 1945 after three months of fierce fighting . Elements of the Sixth U . S . Army cleared most Japanese from Ft Stotsenburg - Clark Fld area and flying activity commenced on least damaged runway while the field still drew Japanese fire , 25 January 1945 ; saboteurs and infiltrators sporadically damaged parked aircraft until 10 February 1945 . Clark was used as an operational base for several groups in the closing months of the war in the southwest Pacific . Operational units flying from Clark were : Military units during the Cold War . With the end of the war in September 1945 , Clark became an immediate dumping ground for aircraft of all types from inactivating fighter and bomber units in the southwest Pacific . Aircraft were flown to Clark and the pilots ( along with aircrews and maintenance and support personnel ) would get on transports back to the United States for discharge . Many of the aircraft ( some almost brand - new ) were scrapped although low - hour planes were retained and flown back to the United States storage fields and mothballed . The 20th Air Force 313th Bombardment Wing with four Boeing B - 29 Superfortress ( 6th , 9th , 504th , 505th ) Very Heavy bomb groups was reassigned from North Field , Tinian on 13 March 1946 . Between 1946 and 15 June 1948 , all of these groups were reassigned or inactivated : On 14 March 1947 , the U . S . and the Philippines signed the Military Bases Agreement which provided for use of Clark Air Base until the year 2046 ( later amended by the 1966 Rusk - Ramos agreement to 1991 ) . The 18th Fighter Group was assigned to Clark on 16 September 1947 . The 18th was the major Far East Air Force unit in the Philippines in the immediate postwar years , flying a mixture of fighter ( P / F - 47 , P / F - 51 , F - 80 ) , and reconnaissance ( RB - 29 , RB - 17G ) aircraft . The 18th Flew patrols and trained with Lockheed F - 80 Shooting Stars , with the distinction of being the first overseas fighter unit to be jet - equipped . On 20 January 1950 , the wing was re - designated the 18th Fighter - Bomber Wing . As a result of the Korean War , the 18th was reassigned from Clark to Pusan AB , South Korea on 1 December 1950 . During the Korean War , the 6204th Photo Mapping Squadron was deployed for three months in 1950 performing aerial mapping of both North and South Korea before being replaced . The unit flew adapted Boeing B - 17s ( as RB - 17Gs ) for photographic mapping by having its bombing equipment deleted and replaced by photographic equipment . Some cameras were installed in the nose and in the aft fuselage as well . During the Korean War and First Indochina War ( 1950 – 1954 ) , the 581st Air Resupply and communications Wing performed psychological warfare and unconventional operations . Conducted limited operations in French Indochina in 1953 with C - 119 , B - 29 , C - 54 , and C - 118 aircraft . During the immediate postwar years and throughout the 1950s , Clark ' s mission was that of a major supply and maintenance depot for Far East Air Forces ( later Pacific Air Forces ) along with being a command base with Headquarters , 13th Air Force taking up residence in 1949 . 13th Air Force would remain at Clark until its closure in 1991 . The 39th Air Division at Misawa AB , Japan deployed the 26th , and later the 509th Fighter - Interceptor Squadrons to Clark from 1954 – 1960 flying North American F - 86F & F - 86D Sabres to provide air defense of the Philippine Islands . 405th Fighter Wing . A change of mission occurred at Clark with the activation of the 405th Fighter Wing on 4 September 1959 , replacing the 6200th Air Base Wing . The mission changed from that of being a support depot and maintenance facility to that of an operational fighter wing . The mission of the 405th was to provide air defense and offensive fighter operations in the Philippines , Taiwan , and other Far Eastern points . The wing had numerous TDY squadrons attached over its operational lifetime at Clark . The following operational squadrons assigned to the wing were : During the Vietnam War , the wing provided air defense training for Royal Thai Air Force personnel , from Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base , Thailand from November 1961 – February 1966 . From mid - 1962 until the end of the conflict in Southeast Asia , the wing frequently deployed assigned and attached components to bases in Thailand and South Vietnam for air defense and combat operations under operational control of other organizations . When not so involved , components trained in air defense and other tactical exercises in Taiwan and the Philippines . During July – August 1972 , provided extensive flood relief to Philippine areas inundated by monsoon rains . During February – March 1973 , provided medical , logistical , and administrative support for former American prisoners of war , on their way to the United States from North Vietnam . 3d Tactical Fighter Wing . After the end of the Vietnam War , the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing was reassigned to Clark without personnel or equipment from Kunsan AB , South Korea on 16 September 1974 , replacing the 405th Fighter Wing which was inactivated in place . The 3d TFW assumed the mission of the former 405th and provided tactical air defense of the Philippines . It participated in frequent operational exercises and evaluations . Between 5 April and 31 May 1975 , the wing used its facilities as a staging area for Operations Baby Lift ( evacuation of Vietnamese Orphans from South Vietnam to the United States ) and New Life ( Evacuation of Vietnamese Adults to the United States for resettlement ) . Provided PACAF aircrews with realistic training in dissimilar aerial combat and current intelligence on enemy air - to - air capabilities and tactics , 1976 – 1989 . Operational squadrons of the 3d TFW were : The 3d Tactical Fighter Wing was placed on non - operational status with the evacuation of Clark in June 1991 . The Wing deployed six F - 4Es to Turkey for Operation Desert Storm in early 1991 where they flew some of that aircraft ' s last combat sorties . Cope Thunder . Exercise Cope Thunder was a Pacific Air Forces - sponsored exercise initiated at Clark in 1976 which was devised as a way to give aircrews from across Asia their first taste of warfare . The exercise quickly grew into PACAF ’ s " premier simulated combat airpower employment exercise . " Tactical Airlift . Between 1968 and 1989 , PACAF , and starting in 1974 , Military Airlift Command operated a theater airlift capability from Clark . The 463d Tactical Airlift Wing rotated C - 130 squadrons between Clark and Tan Son Nhut Air Base , South Vietnam during the Vietnam War . After the war , the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing operated C - 130s within the theater , as well as Aeromedical Evacuation flights .