Avenger Field Airport
Summary
Airport typeCity of Sweetwater, Texas
Operator2,380
LocationNolan County, near Sweetwater, Texas
Elevation AMSL725.4 ft / 221 m
Coordinates32°28′02.5067″N 100°27′59.6317″W / 32.467362972°N 100.466564361°W / 32.467362972; -100.466564361
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 5,840 1,780 Asphalt
4/22 5,659 1,725 Asphalt

Avenger Field Airport (IATA: SWW, ICAO: KSWW) is a commercial airport located 3 miles W of Sweetwater, Texas.

It is owned and operated by the city of Sweetwater, Texas.

History

World War II

The airport was opened in August 1941 as Avenger Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base assigned to the AAF Flying Training Command, Gulf Coast 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 20 December, 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 part of the planned deployment by Air Defense Command. Sweetwater AFS was part of forty-four Mobile radar stations across the United States to support the permanent Radar network established during the Cold War for air defense of the United States. This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment.

The 683d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to Sweetwater AFS (M-89) on 1 March 1956, being established in new facilities built on the northwest part of the station 32°27′50″N 100°28′28″W / 32.46389°N 100.47444°W / 32.46389; -100.47444 (Sweetwater AFS M-89). It initially operated AN/MPS-11 search and AN/TPS-10D height-finder radars. In 1961 an AN/FPS-6A replaced the AN/TPS-10D height-finder radar, and joined the SAGE system with the squadron being re-designated as the 683d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 September.

In 1963 the AN/FPS-6A evolved into an AN/FPS-90, and on 31 July, 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-67B. The Air Force ordered Sweetwater AFS closed in 1969 due to budget reductions and the phasing down of Air Defense Command. The 683rd Radar Squadron inactivated on 30 September 1969.

See also

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Flying training
Flying schools
Specialized schools
Technical training
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