On Aug. 5, 1945, Tibbets piloted the B-29 Enola Gay to Hiroshima and dropped the world’s first atomic bomb.

In 1944, Tibbets was assigned to the secret Manhattan Project. His responsibility was to organize and train a unit to deliver these weapons in combat operations and modify the B-29.

He served in the Strategic Air Command, served a tour with NATO in France and was responsible for establishing the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon.