Adolphus Henry “Pat” Bledsoe Jr. (1939–)

Adolphus Henry “Pat” Bledsoe Jr. was a decorated U.S. Air Force aviator who, flying a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in 1976, flew faster than anyone had ever flown an aircraft.

Pat Bledsoe was born on March 26, 1939, in Fordyce (Dallas County), the son of Adolphus H. Bledsoe Sr., who was a jeweler and watchmaker, and Lillian L. Lingle Bledsoe, a homemaker. He attended public schools in Fordyce.

On December 7, 1959, Bledsoe joined the U.S. Air Force under the Aviation Cadet Program (a college degree was not required) as a member of Pilot Training Class 61-F at Webb Air Force Base (AFB) in Texas. He was awarded his pilot wings and a commission as a second lieutenant and was named a Distinguished Graduate on March 17, 1961. He subsequently received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Chapman University in Orange, California.

Bledsoe married Carol Lewis in August 1962 in Moultrie, Georgia; they had three children.

He spent four years as an undergraduate pilot training (UPT) flight instructor for U.S. and foreign students in the T-33, T-37, and T-28 aircraft, with the last three years teaching mainly Vietnamese student pilots at Moody AFB in Georgia and Randolph AFB in Texas. In September 1965, he went to Vietnam as a volunteer Forward Air Controller, flying the O-1 (Cessna Bird Dog) aircraft and completing 408 combat missions over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Laos during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and eighteen Air Medals.

In 1971, Bledsoe heard about the SR-71, a long-range and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed, and applied for duty as a trainee pilot at Beale AFB. After ten months of classroom work, 200 hours of simulator time, and 100 hours of actual flight time, he deployed to Okinawa for missions over Vietnam and Korea. During the next seven years, he served as a pilot, instructor pilot, Chief of the Wing Standardization-Evaluation Branch, and Commander of the First Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (the Air Force’s only SR-71 squadron). He also received three additional Distinguished Flying Crosses and four more Air Medals. Two of the DFCs were for combat missions, and the third was for “Extraordinary Achievement” for setting the Absolute World Record for Speed in a Closed Circuit—2,092 mph over a 1,000-kilometer course—on July 27, 1976.

In June 1985, Colonel Bledsoe retired from the air force and became an airline pilot for Sunworld International Airways and Alaska Airlines, flying DC-9s, MD-80s, 727s, and 737s before retiring in 1999 and moving with his wife to Prescott, Arizona. He accumulated over 15,000 hours of total flying time.

Bledsoe was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007.

For additional information:
“Adolphus H. “Pat” Bledsoe Jr.” Arkansas Aviation Historical Society. https://arkavhs.com/index.php/hall-of-fame/adolphus-h-pat-bledsoe-jr/ (accessed July 10, 2026).

“SR-71 Blackbird Speed and Altitude Records.” SR-71 Blackbirds. http://www.sr71.us/srrcd~1.htm (accessed July 10, 2026).

“SR71 Blackbird Interview with Pilot Col. Pat Bledso.” The Backyard Astronomer, YouTube, November 2, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2O1qOgFDBg (accessed July 10, 2026). [see Related Web Video in sidebar]

Richard Holbert
Little Rock, Arkansas