Avenger Field Avenger Field is a public use Texas airport in Nolan County . It is owned by the City of Sweetwater and located three nautical miles ( 6 km ) west of its central business district . This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011 – 2015 , which categorized it as a " general aviation " facility . History . As a Texas World War II Army Airfield , " Avenger Field " opened in August 1941 as a United States Army Air Forces training base of the AAF Flying Training Command , Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center ( later Central Flying Training Command ) . Avenger Field earned the distinction of being the largest all - female air base in American history . The Women Airforce Service Pilots , or WASP as it was known , began training women pilots in November 1942 at Howard Hughes field in Houston . In February 1943 Avenger Field became an all - female installation except for a few male instructors and other officers . Classes entered the WASP program at Avenger Field in monthly intervals . A total of 18 classes completed training : 8 in 1943 and 10 in 1944 . Of the 25 , 000 women who applied for flight training , 1 , 830 were accepted , and of those , 1 , 074 received their wings . Training for women pilots paralleled but did not duplicate that given the men . Because the women were expected to go into ferrying , emphasis was placed on cross - country flying . Gunnery and formation flight training were omitted . The first course was four - months long . Although the hours were flexible and varied according to previous training , 115 flying hours were generally called for in addition to 180 hours of ground instruction . As the experience level of the trainees declined , the course was expanded and revised . By the close of 1943 , the length had been extended to 27 weeks and the flying hours to 210 . Few curricular changes were made in 1944 ; the main one increased training from 27 to 30 weeks . The WASPs were employed under the Civil Service program . It was always assumed they would become part of the Army when a proper place within the military organization could be found for them . In fact , bills were introduced in Congress to give them military rank , but even with General Arnold ' s support , all efforts failed to absorb the WASPs into the military . Avenger Field remained a WASP training base until December 1944 when it closed , having fulfilled its mission . During its existence , 1 , 074 women pilots were trained at the facility including the thirty - seven that gave their lives in the service of their country . On December 20 , the Army Air Forces , citing the changing combat situation , disbanded the WASP program . The WASPs returned to civilian life with no veterans ' benefits . In 1977 Congress finally granted benefits to the 850 remaining WASPs . At the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the military and turned over to the local government for civil use . Cold War radar station . The United States Air Force Air Defense Command exercised a right of return to Avenger Field in 1955 when Sweetwater Air Force Station was established as a USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Station . The 683d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to Sweetwater AFS ( M - 89 ) on March 1 , 1956 , being established in new facilities built on the northwest part of the station . New military family housing was also constructed just to the east of the airport . It initially operated AN / MPS - 11 search and AN / TPS - 10 D height - finder radars , and initially the station functioned as a Ground - Control Intercept ( GCI ) and warning station . As a GCI station , the squadron ' s role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit ' s radar scopes . In 1961 an AN / FPS - 6 A replaced the AN / TPS - 10D height - finder radar . In 1963 the AN / FPS - 6 A evolved into an AN / FPS - 90 , and on July 31 , the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z - 89 . In addition to the main facility , Sweetwater operated several AN / FPS - 14 Gap Filler sites : In 1967 the search radar was replaced by an AN / FPS - 67 B . The Air Force ordered Sweetwater AFS closed in 1969 due to budget reductions and the phasing down of Air Defense Command . The 683d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron inactivated on September 30 , 1969 . Today , most of the cold war air force station has been redeveloped and new buildings have taken their place at the airport . A few buildings do remain , and the Air Force housing area also remains , now being single - family homes . Facilities and aircraft . Avenger Field covers an area of 896 acres ( 363 hectare ) at an elevation of 2 , 380 feet ( 725 m ) above mean sea level . It has two asphalt paved runways : 17 / 35 is 5 , 840 by 100 feet ( 1 , 780 x 30 m ) and 4 / 22 is 5 , 658 by 75 feet ( 1 , 725 x 23 m ) . For the 12 - month period ending February 6 , 2012 , the airport had 4 , 500 general aviation aircraft operations , an average of 12 per day . At that time there were 19 aircraft based at this airport : 95 % single - engine and 5 % helicopter .