Three SR-71 pilots (Maj. Adolphus H. Bledsoe Jr., Capt. Robert C. Helt, and Capt. Eldon W. Joersz) set three absolute world flight records over Beale AFB, Calif.: altitude in horizontal flight (85,068.997 feet), speed over a straight course (2,193.16 mph), and speed over a closed circuit (2,092.294 mph).
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.