Meanwhile, the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing (which had previously been at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam) moved to Clark Air Base on 16 September 1974 and became the base's host unit, replacing the 405th Tactical Fighter Wing. The 3d Tactical Fighter Wing had inherited the lineage and honors of the 3d Bomb Group, formed in July 1919, when that unit was inactivated. One of its squadrons, the 3d Tactical Fighter Squadron, was the first to be assigned to Clark during the interwar years as the 3d Aero Squadron and later the 3d Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor). The 3d Pursuit participated in the vain attempt to defend against the Japanese air attacks of 8 December 1941, accounting for almost all of the enemy aircraft downed by American fighter planes during that engagement.