A lone corrugated airplane hangar standing some distance from the Sweetwater Municipal Airport terminal is Hangar One, the original Sweetwater Airport. It houses the National Women Airforce Service Pilots World War II Museum. Avenger Field was opened in August 1941 as a flight-training base and by February 1943 became an all-woman base, except for a few male officers. Flight training ended in December 1944, and the airfield was turned over for civilian use. The museum commemorates the 1,102 civilian women pilots who flew over 60 million miles in every type of military plane, serving as flight instructors, tow-target pilots, engineering test pilots, and test pilots for the B-29 Superfortress in preparation for its atomic bomb mission. The women were never officially recognized as being part of the military, worked for low pay, and had to pay for their own food, clothing, housing, and transportation expenses (and for burial of the 38 killed in service). Recognition finally arrived in 1977, with award of the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.