 | Clark Air Base: Encyclopedia II - Clark Air Base - Facilities
Clark Air Base - Facilities
A large flight operations area was just west of the airfield, comprising the core of the base. Housing and commercial areas were further west. At the foothills of Mount Pinatubo were two major housing areas bisected by a large golf course. The base was crisscrossed by about five major boulevards, one measuring six miles (10 km) long.
The base had a 200-bed regional hospital, the largest American commissary in the world, a department store, a mini-mall, several restaurants, a hotel, and a six-story dormitory. Clark was home to Wagner High School, Wagner Middle School, and Lily Hill Middle School. It had at least three elementary schools, including Wurtsmith, MacArthur, and V.I. Grissom Elementary Schools. Most teachers were American civilians, the schools being operated by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools.
Although the bars off-base in Angeles City were numerous and quite legendary, the servicemen's clubs on base provided strong alternatives. All three were large-scale operations: the Officer's Club (CABOOM) near the parade ground, the Top Hat Club for NCOs near Lily Hill (moved to near the Silver Wing around 1986), and the Coconut Grove Airmen's Club with indoor palm trees. The NCO Club was especially active and regularly brought major bands and artists from the United States to perform. Also at least a hundred sponsored clubs and organizations were active on the base, including Knights of Columbus, a Latino American club, martial arts dojos, and more. Two major movie theaters operated daily: the Bobbitt Theater which played first-run films, and the Kelly Theater which showed older releases.
To keep the residents entertained at home, Clark had a very active broadcast center called FEN, or Far East Network Philippines, a division of American Forces Network. The television station (Channel 8; moved to Channel 17 in 1981) showed about 20 hours per day of syndicated programs from the "big three" networks in the United States, with local news and talk programs. This content was locally syndicated until 1983 when programming from Los Angeles was put online. FEN also had two 24-hour radio stations: an AM station which broadcast news and popular music, and FM which was dedicated to easy-listening and classical music. However, with English common in Filipino broadcasting, off-base radio and TV tended to provide a lot of music and American TV fare that was not aired on FEN, such as Dukes of Hazzard and CHiPs.
Three major Filipino communities were nestled against Clark Air Base: Angeles City against the southeast corner, Mabalacat against the northeast corner, and Sapangbato on the south side. They were all important sources of labor, goods, and services to the base.
Other related archives1903, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1992, 3d Tactical Fighter Wing, American Forces Network, Andersen AFB, Angeles, Boeing 747, C-130, CHiPs, Clark Special Economic Zone, Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Diego Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, Douglas DC-8, Dukes of Hazzard, F-4E, F-4G, F-5, Far East Air Force, Flying Tigers, Geography of the Philippines, Hawaiian Airlines, June 15, Kadena AB, Knights of Columbus, L-1011, Los Angeles, Luzon Island, Mabalacat, Manila, Military History of the Philippines, Military History of the United States, Mount Pinatubo, November 24, November 28, October 25, October 27, Pampanga, Philippines, T-33, Thirteenth Air Force, Tower Air, Trans International, Travis AFB, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, Vietnam War, World War II, golf, martial arts
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Facilities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
