Lieutenant Colonel Merryl Tengesdal dreamed when she was a girl growing up in the Bronx that one day she would be an astronaut. Today, she owns the honor of being the first and only Black woman to have flown the U-2 spy aircraft and has logged significant flying and combat hours.
Tengesdal survived the temptations present in the crime and drug-riddled neighborhood where she grew up. Instead, the future trailblazer focused primarily on academics. She graduated from the University of New Haven in Connecticut in 1994 with a degree in engineering.
That same year, Tengesdal entered the Navy’s Officer Candidate School and was commissioned later that year. She was selected to pilot the Navy’s Seahawk helicopter ahead of her 2004 selection into the U-2 Training Program. Tengesdal was one of 1,000 others attempting to enter the program. She endured the nine-month course and was selected for fly the Lockheed U-2S Dragon Lady aircraft.
Tengesdal has logged more than 3,000 flight hours and over 300 combat hours. She has supported missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. She’s only allowed to fly the U-2 once every three days because of the toll it takes on the body. Pilots fly as high as 70,000 feet into the sky, which puts them right on the edge of space.
Tengesdal has been very vocal about her place in history and speaks with pride of her being a female minority in a field dominated by white men. She sees herself as a living inspiration to young women of color and hopes to inspire their dreams as well.
Adding to Tengesdal’s accomplishments, she was selected to be promoted to the rank of colonel last February. She is also the 9th Reconnaissance Wing’s Inspector General.
