DAYTON, Ohio — The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force recently received the Air Force Association’s (AFA) 2016 Hoyt S. Vandenberg Award in recognition of the museum’s outstanding contributions to aerospace education.The award recognizes the museum’s “unique exhibits and collections” and its continual improvement to “preserve Air Force history and honor Airmen.”

“We applaud your dedication to collecting, researching, conserving, interpreting and presenting the Air Force’s history, heritage, and traditions, and for the opening of the fourth hangar this year at the museum,” said Scott P. Van Cleef, AFA Chairman of the Board.

In June 2016, the museum opened its new $40.8 million 224,000-square-foot fourth building, which houses more than 70 aerospace vehicles in four new galleries — Presidential, Research and Development, Space and Global Reach, along with three science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Learning Nodes.

The Vandenberg Award, one of AFA’s highest honors, was established in 1948 and past recipients include General Carl A. Spaatz, first U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff (1951); Lt. Gen James H. Doolittle, USAF, Ret (1953); Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB (1980); and HQ Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Technical Training Division, Randolph AFB, Texas (2003).

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year about 1 million visitors from around the world come to the museum.