Early Military Career
On February 25, 1937, Tibbets enlisted as a flying cadet in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938 and received his commission and wings at Kelly Field, Texas.
Tibbets was named commanding officer of the 340th Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces, flying B-17 Flying Fortresses in March 1942. Based at RAF Polebrook, he piloted the lead bomber for the first Eighth Air Force bombing mission in Europe on August 17, 1942, and later flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Upon completion of his combat tour, Tibbets was assigned as assistant for bomber operations to Col. Lauris Norstad, Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations (A-3) of the Twelfth Air Force, a position he held until returning to the U.S. to test fly B-29 Superfortresses. "By reputation", Tibbets was "the best flier in the Army Air Force". One of those who confirmed this reputation was then-General Dwight D. Eisenhower, for whom Tibbets served as a personal pilot at times during the war.
After a year of development testing of the B-29, Tibbets was assigned in March 1944 to the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Very Heavy), a B-29 training unit, as director of operations under Brig. Gen. Frank A. Armstrong at Grand Island Army Air Field, Nebraska. On April 27 he was selected by General Henry H. Arnold as the prime candidate to command the 509th Composite Group, although he was not informed of the selection until September 1.
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