Colonel Merryl Tengesdal – Dragon Lady

Our next highlighted Armed Forces member during Black History Month is Colonel Merryl Tengesdal, a Navy and Air Force pilot who became the first and currently only African American woman to pilot the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft.

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, in 1971, Tengesdal sought to become an astronaut early in life and participated in her school’s ROTC program to get a head start in her career. After graduating with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1994 from the University of New Haven in Connecticut, Tengesdal attended Officer Candidate School for the Navy and soon entered flight school after being commissioned as an ensign. Merryl would go on to graduate from Air Command and Staff College, earning a Master of Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida and be granted an honorary Doctorate in Engineering by her alma mater in Connecticut. Initially a helicopter pilot, she flew the SH-60B Seahawk and participated in cruises worldwide, notably in South America, the Caribbeans and the Middle East. After serving in the navy for nearly a decade of flying for the Navy, Colonel Tengesdal cross-commissioned into the Air Force in 2004.

Having transferred to the Air Force, Tengesdal entered into the highly selective and rigorous program to pilot the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. A grueling 9-month program only operating out of Beale Air Force Base in California, the colonel made history after successfully completing the program, becoming the first and only African American woman to fly a U-2. Clocking in 3,400 flight hours, 330 combat hours, and soaring as high as 70,000 feet after receiving numerous awards and decorations, Colonel Tengesdal retired in 2017 and now works as a motivational speaker, author, and certified personal trainer.