Clark Air Base - History

History

For full details, see History of Clark Air Base.

For information on Clark after its closure, see Clark Freeport Zone and Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

Clark Air Base was originally established as Fort Stotsenburg in Sapang Bato, Angeles City in 1903 under control of the U.S. Army. A portion of Fort Stotsenburg was officially set aside for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps and named Clark Field in September 1919. Clark served as a landing field for medium bombers and accommodated half of the heavy bombers stationed in the Philippines during the 1930s. It was very large for a landing field of the day. In the late summer and fall of 1941, many aircraft were sent to Clark in anticipation of war with Imperial Japan.

The base was overrun by Japanese forces in early January 1942. The base then became a major center for staging Japanese air operations. Japanese aircraft flying out of Clark participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered to be the largest naval battle of the Second World War.

During the war, the Allied prisoners of the Bataan Death March passed by the main gate of Clark Air Base, as the soldiers followed the direction of the railway tracks north, towards Camp O'Donnell. Clark Air Base was recaptured by Americans in January 1945, after three months of fierce fighting in the Philippines.

Clark grew into a major American air base during the Cold War, serving as an important logistics hub during the Vietnam War. The base was later closed due to the refusal by the Philippine government to renew the lease on the base. After extensive damage from the Mount Pinatubo eruption, the Philippine government attempted to reopen base lease talks, but terms could not be reached and the lease was not extended.

In November 1991, the United States Air Force lowered the Stars and Stripes and transferred Clark Air Base to the Philippine government. With the United States military's withdrawal from Clark, the base was systematically looted and was left abandoned for several years. It finally became the Clark Freeport Zone and the site of Clark International Airport (CIA), renamed to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in 2003.

In June 2012, the Philippine government, under pressure from Chinese claims to their seas, agreed to the return of American forces to Clark.