Paul Warfield Tibbets IV is a former United States Air Force brigadier general. He is the grandson of Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. He was the Deputy Director for Nuclear Operations in the Global Operations Directorate of the United States Strategic Command, where he was responsible for the nuclear mission of the nation's ballistic missile submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers. During his career he participated in Operation Allied Force in the Balkans and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and is one of the few pilots qualified to fly all three of the USAF's strategic bombers: the Rockwell B-1 Lancer, Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. In June 2015, he assumed command of the 509th Bomb Wing. In July 2017, he became Deputy Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
Brigadier General Paul Tibbets IV in 2017
Colonel Paul Tibbets IV (left) looks at the nose art on a 93d Bomb Squadron B-52H Stratofortress at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, which resembles that of the B-17 Flying Fortress that his grandfather piloted during World War II
The 509th Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command, Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
B-2A Spirit returns from a mission as part of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn
FB-111A dropping Mark 82 practice bombs during a training mission over Nomans Land
509th BW B-2A being prepared for Operation Odyssey Dawn
