Inspector of the Air Force

The Inspector of the Air Force (German: Inspekteur der Luftwaffe) is the commander of the Air Force of the modern-day German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr. The Inspector is responsible for the readiness of personnel and materiel in the German Air Force, in that function reports directly to the Federal Minister of Defence. The current Inspector is Ingo Gerhartz, appointed on 29 May 2018.

Inspector of the German Air Force
Inspekteur der Luftwaffe
Standard of the Inspector of the Air Force
Incumbent Generalleutnant Ingo Gerhartz since 29 May 2018
Federal Minister of Defence
Abbreviation	InspL
Reports to	General Inspector of the Bundeswehr
Precursor	Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
Formation	1 June 1957
First holder	Josef Kammhuber

The Inspector of the Air Force is the chief of the Air Force Command, based in Gatow, Berlin. They sit under the General Inspector of the Bundeswehr and are a member of the Defence Council for Bundeswehr-wide matters. Both the Inspector and their deputy hold the rank of lieutenant general (German: Generalleutnant) while in office, although the first Inspector, Josef Kammhuber, was an exception, holding the rank of full general as a reward for his efforts to build up a new German Luftwaffe.

List of Inspectors of the Air Force

No.	Portrait	Inspector of the Air Force	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Kammhuber, JosefGeneral Josef Kammhuber (1896–1986)	1 June 1957	30 September 1962	5 years, 121 days
2		Panitzki, WernerLieutenant General Werner Panitzki (1911–2000)	1 October 1962	25 August 1966	3 years, 328 days
3		Steinhoff, JohannesLieutenant General Johannes Steinhoff (1913–1994)	2 September 1966	31 December 1970	4 years, 120 days
4		Rall, GüntherLieutenant General Günther Rall (1918–2009)	1 January 1971	31 March 1974	3 years, 89 days
5		Limberg, GerhardLieutenant General Gerhard Limberg (1920–2006)	1 April 1974	30 September 1978	4 years, 182 days
6		Obleser, FriedrichLieutenant General Friedrich Obleser (1923–2004)	1 October 1978	30 March 1983	4 years, 180 days
7		Eimler, EberhardLieutenant General Eberhard Eimler (born 1930)	1 April 1983	30 September 1987	4 years, 182 days
8		Jungkurth, HorstLieutenant General Horst Jungkurth (born 1933)	1 October 1987	31 March 1991	3 years, 181 days
9		Kuebart, JörgLieutenant General Jörg Kuebart (1934–2018)	1 April 1991	30 September 1994	3 years, 182 days
10		Mende, BernhardLieutenant General Bernhard Mende (1937–2004)	1 October 1994	30 September 1997	2 years, 364 days
11		Portz, RolfLieutenant General Rolf Portz (born 1940)	1 October 1997	31 March 2001	3 years, 181 days
12		Back, GerhardLieutenant General Gerhard W. Back (born 1944)	1 April 2001	11 January 2004	2 years, 285 days
13		Stieglitz, Klaus-PeterLieutenant General Klaus-Peter Stieglitz (born 1947)	12 January 2004	29 October 2009	5 years, 290 days
14		Kreuzinger-Janik, AarneLieutenant General Aarne Kreuzinger-Janik (born 1950)	29 October 2009	25 April 2012	2 years, 179 days
15		Müllner, KarlLieutenant General Karl Müllner (born 1956)	25 April 2012	29 May 2018	6 years, 34 days
16		Gerhartz, IngoLieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz (born 1965)	29 May 2018	Incumbent	6 years, 192 days

External links

• (in German) Inspekteure der Luftwaffe (Bundesarchiv)