[4] The primary mission of the contingent appears to be to patrol disputed South China Sea islands, "to provide greater and more transparent air and maritime domain awareness to ensure safety for military and civilian activities in international waters and airspace.

Clark Air Base was originally established as Fort Stotsenburg in Sapang Bato, Angeles, Pampanga in 1903 under control of the U.S.

It was very large for an air field of its day, and in the late summer and fall of 1941, many aircraft were sent to Clark in anticipation of a war with Imperial Japan.

[6][7] During the war, Allied prisoners on the Bataan Death March passed by the main gate of Clark Air Base as they followed the railway tracks north towards Camp O'Donnell.

On January 31, American forces regained possession of Clark Field after three months of fierce fighting to liberate the Philippines.

[10] Meanwhile, Marcos was able to use ongoing negotiations for the renewal of the US bases treaty as a way of limiting US government criticism and intervention against human rights abuses, attacks on press freedom, and the shuttering of democratic institutions in the Philippines.

[11][12] When the Marcoses were deposed in February 1986, they fled the Presidential Palace and were flown to Clark, and it was from there that the US government flew them into exile in Hawaii.

[11] Before extensive damage from the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption of 1991, the Philippine government offered to renew the leases on Clark, Subic and a handful of smaller bases for $825 million annually.

With the United States military's withdrawal from Clark, the base was systematically looted by the local population and was left abandoned for several years.

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

Fighter planes regularly visited to participate in aerial warfare exercises at Crow Valley about 30 miles (48 km) to the northwest.

Clark was served regularly by cargo and passenger flights to and from Andersen AFB, Guam; Kadena AB, Japan; Diego Garcia; Jakarta, Indonesia; Bangkok and Ubon Thailand; and Saigon, South Vietnam (until 1975).

By 1980, the base had grown to such an extent that weekly Flying Tigers Boeing 747 service to St. Louis (via Kadena AB Japan; Anchorage; and Los Angeles) had begun.

It had a base exchange, large commissary, small shopping arcade, branch department store, cafeterias, teen centers, hotel, miniature golf, riding stables, zoo, and other concessions.

All three were large-scale operations: the Officer's Club (CABOOM) near the parade ground, the Top Hat Club for non-commissioned officers (NCOs) near Lily Hill, which moved to near the Silver Wing in 1986, and the Coconut Grove Airmen Open Mess (AOM) housed in a large vaulted room that contained palm trees.

The airman's club got first dibs on Broadway shows and swing bands due to an agreement that whoever paid transportation costs got priority.

The PI formal wear for men was lace shirts (the barong Tagalog) with French cuffs, traditional and very elegant.

[18][19] The 1969 novel "One to Count Cadence", by James Crumley, has its initial setting in an Army unit stationed at Clark Air Base, and has become the "Catch 22" novel of the Vietnam War.

[20] Due to the very dry state of vegetation at this time, ash and soot often falls on Clark Air Base as farmers burn their fields for planting.

They are rarely strong at Clark Air Base as the facilities are far inland, and the typhoon circulation is disrupted by the Sierra Madre mountain range on the east coast.