Observation Squadron. These units operated from the field until January 1924, when the 17th Group was rendered inactive. Three years later, the foundation for the present 18th Pursuit Group was laid and the 6th and 19th Pursuit Squadrons were transferred from Luke Field. More squadrons were eventually added to the 18th Pursuit Group and Bellows Field was opened as an aerial gunnery camp for the use of tactical organizations. The 15th Pursuit Group was formed next and was made a permanent part of the airdrome. Hand in hand with this move came the formation of the 14th Pursuit Wing. Wheeler Field was the site of several major historic aviation events prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, including the first transpacific flight from California in 1927; the great Dole Air Race from California to Hawaii; the first transpacific flight from the U.S. to Australia in 1928, and the first Hawaii-to-Mainland solo flight in 1935 by Amelia Earhart. Ms. Earhart visited Wheeler Field in 1935 in her Lockheed Vega and in 1937 in her Lockheed Model 10 Electra. Kingsford Smith, in his plane, the Southern Cross, also used the airfield on his historic flights across the Pacific. By 1940, Wheeler Field had evolved into a primary base for Army Air Corps pursuit (i.e., "fighter") aircraft such as the P-40 Warhawk, responsible for air defense of the Hawaiian Islands Territory. World War II Wheeler Army Airfield was a primary target and site of the first attack on 7 December 1941, leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attacked the airfield to prevent the numerous planes there from getting airborne and engaging them. Most of the planes were destroyed, but 12 pilots assigned to the 15th Pursuit Group at Wheeler (predecessor of the present day 15th Wing) succeeded in getting their P-36 Hawk and P-40 Warhawk aircraft off the ground, engaged the Japanese in furious dogfights, and scored some of the first American victories of World War II. 2nd Lieutenant Phil Rasmussen found an old, unscathed Curtiss P-36 Hawk and taxied it to a revetment where he had it loaded with ammunition. During a lull in the bombing, he took off with three other pilots. Lieutenant Rasmussen managed to shoot down a Mitsubishi A6M Zero and the American pilots subsequently engaged 11 Japanese aircraft. The installation has a National Historic Landmark District in association with the