Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Signs of the apocalypse?: Air Force BG Paul Tibbets takes over 509th Bomb Wing

When I saw that Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets IV had been named to command the 509th Bomb Wing, Air Force Global Strike Command, I thought that name and unit seemed familiar.

1024px-Boeing_B-47B_rocket-assisted_take_off_on_April_15,_1954_061024-F-1234S-011
1024px-Boeing_B-47B_rocket-assisted_take_off_on_April_15,_1954_061024-F-1234S-011

When I saw that Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets IV had been named to command the 509th Bomb Wing, Air Force Global Strike Command, I thought that name and unit seemed familiar.

When I saw that Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets IV had been named to command the 509th Bomb Wing, Air Force Global Strike Command, I thought that name and unit seemed familiar.

It kind of stuns me that we seem to have multi-generation bombers in the United States. But it shouldn’t. Trades often are passed on from father to son.

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force/Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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