Clark Air Force Base

Clark Air Force Base

Things were changing at Clark in late 1958 and early 1959. I left Craig with orders assigning me to the 418th Fighter Day Squadron which had been activated at Clark as an F-100 squadron in late 1957. The unit never received any aircraft or personnel and was inactivated 1 July 1958. Before I reported to the unit in November the designation had been changed to the 72nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 6200th Air Base Wing. The 405th Fighter Wing was assigned to Clark in April 1959, replacing the 6200th Air Base Wing. This was part of a general buildup of USAF tactical forces in the Pacific as a part of a new Status of Forces agreement with the Philippine Government. With the arrival of the 405th Fighter Wing, the squadrons now werethe 509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron operating F-86D Sabre interceptors and the 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron equipped with the F-100D Super Sabres operating in a defensive fighter-bomber mission.

When I reported to the 72nd TFS on 28 November 1958, I was assigned duty as flight chief on F-100s. Things were pretty much disorganized with the two squadrons being relatively new to the base and to each other. We had several new pilots and quite a few new mechanics. Reporting for duty on the same day I did was a new line chief and three more new flight chiefs. What we had was a large number of pilots and mechanics who really knew very little about the F-100. In many cases it was like the blind leading the blind. Confusion reigned and morale was very low. Then in July, three months after the 405th came to Clark, things began to take a sudden turn for the better. Colonel Edward W. Szaniawski, who had a facial profile much like Jimmy Durante, became the new wing commander. The first thing he did was eliminated weekends – and pretty much nights as well. The work schedule was seven days a week and long hours. You could expect him to roam the flight line any time, day or night. It was tougher than just tough but we survived and the Wing was given the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for the period 1 Nov 1960 – 30 June 1961.

The 405th was breaking new ground in many areas. They were involved in setting up the new Aircraft Specialized Maintenance System. Because of my previous experience in this area at Craig, I was reassigned to Hq Sqdn, 405th FW and given the assignment of establishing the Training Control Branch. We monitored OJT programs for trainees within the wing, coordinated Military Assistance Training Programs for members of allied countries in the area; we had people from Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma. The Philippine government would not allow Japanese military into Clark for the program. We also conducted prep classes for mechanics who were testing for upgrade in Air Force Specialty Codes.

When I left Craig the early part on November 1958, I left my wife and young son behind. I drove a 1954, Mercury from Alabama to San Francisco and had it shipped to Clark. On 28 February I was authorized to reside in off base housing rented on the local market. My wife and son joined me in early April. A few months later we were assigned quarters on base. Filipinos would buy almost anything from Air Force families and there were some who had abundant funds for that purpose. Shortly before coming home, I sold my Mercury for enough to purchase a new VW beetle which I ordered and picked up in San Francisco upon my return. I drove that beetle from CA to AL and spent less that $35.00 on gas.

Shortly after reaching Clark, my wife became involved in a bible study group of Baptist women who were wives of other base personnel. Long story short – we became a part of a group who established ClarkFieldBaptistChurch just outside the gate in the city of Angeles. We built a building to seat 400 worshipers. The church is still there and has been turned over to a local Filipino congregation

One last memory of Clark; in the early months of 1961 Warner Bros. came to the PI to film Merrill’s Marauders, based on the life of Gen Frank Merrill during WW II. The movie starred Jeff Chandler as Frank Merrill with supporting cast of actors like Peter Brown, Claude Akins, Andrew Duggan, Ty Hardin, Will Hutchins and the list goes on. Near the Top 3 {NCO} club was a huge hill {known as Lilly hill} with a radar dome on top. The hill was covered with heavy vegetation and was used for several shots in the film. Many mornings I would take a midmorning coffee break at the club and some of the cast would be resting between shots in the club.

This would beChandler’s last film. After filming was complete, he was playing baseball with the some of the Army Special Forces men who played extras in the film when he injured his back. He returned to CA and had back surgery in May but an artery was damaged resulting in his death at age 42.

405th Fighter Wing Special Order AA-697, dtd 1 June 1961 was sort of a reward for my time at Clark; it was an amended order changing my rank from T/Sgt to M/Sgt and it set my new departure time at 2400 hours, 13 June 1961. It also listed my new duty station as Amarillo Air Force Base, Amarillo, Texas.