Page "Far East Air Force (United States)" Paragraph 36

Within of Manila, the Army had six airfields, two of which were auxiliary strips nearing completion.

Another four auxiliary strips were begun in November: O ' Donnell and San Fernando near Clark, San Marcelino northwest of Subic Bay, and Ternate west of Cavite ( Ternate and San Fernando were never finished ).

No strips were planned on Bataan, despite its prominence in strategic war planning.

In August and October 1941, the War department allocated US $ 9, 273, 000 to construct and improve airfields, most of which was spent constructing a concrete runway at Nichols Field ( the only hard-surfaced runway in the Philippines ), and adding and extending graded strips at Clark Field, with the rest going to the auxiliary fields.

The auxiliary strips were dirt-surfaced and without maintenance, servicing, communications, or control facilities.

The dust clouds generated by takeoffs at all strips except Nichols seriously hampered flight operations, with numerous mishaps that destroyed many aircraft, killed pilots, and reduced the assigned strength of already tiny combat missions.

The use of expedients to cut down the dust, including a molasses mixture deposited by a tank truck, was unsuccessful.