Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets IV Elevated To Commander Of The Air Force Global Strike Command

The Pentagon has announced that Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets IV has been promoted to to vice commander, Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Tibbets is the grandson of Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets Jr., who was the pilot of the B-29 Enola Gay on its historic mission to deliver an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945.

Tibbets IV had bee commander of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, which is the same bomber wing in which his grandfather served.

The Air Force Global Strike Command has responsibility for the nation's three intercontinental ballistic missile wings, the entire bomb force of the USAF, including B-52, B-1, and B-2 wings. It will also oversee the Long Range Strike Bomber program.

The promotion puts Tibbets IV second in command of the United States' nuclear deterrence and global strike operations. He will report to Gen. Robin Rand, according to the Air Force Times.

(USAF image)

FMI: www.af.mil