Air power plays a crucial role at the end of World War II. As long-range bombers dismantle the German infrastructure in Europe, fighters provide cover over the advancing troops. The pattern in the Pacific is largely the same. A B-29, the Enola Gay, brings the war to a close by dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Flush with success, the U.S. Air Force emerges as a separate service of the military and moves into the Age of Jets.