Tibbets’ Grandson Takes Command

Brig. Gen. Paul W Tibbets IV, the grandson of the pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, took command of the Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.-based 509th Bomb Wing during a June 5 ceremony. The elder Tibbets, a colonel at the time, flew the B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay” on the Aug. 6, 1945 mission as part of the 509th Composite Group. His grandson now commands that unit’s descendant, which flies B-2 Spirit bombers. “If my grandfather was here today, he would tell all of you how proud he is of the great things you do for our nation,” Tibbets said in a speech before the base’s airmen at the change-of-command ceremony. A former B-2 pilot, Tibbets succeeds Brig. Gen. Glen VanHerck, who will become director of operations at the Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.