This organization was established in the peacetime period predating the German involvement in the Spanish Civil War.

[1] In early 1937, Göring announced the reorganization of the Reich Air Ministry into military and civilian branches.

The military branch was to be led by the Air Force High Command (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe) with its chief and general staff.

These were: After the change these offices became additional power centers in RLM, further fragmenting the top Air force organization.

[2] To gear-up for the European war as the air arm of the combined armed forces of Nazi Germany (Wehrmacht), the German Air force needed a high command equivalent to that of the Army (Oberkommando des Heeres) and the Navy (Oberkommando der Marine).

The intent was to put the German Air force on a true wartime footing, by grouping all the essential military parts of the RLM into a single command.

It included the following branches:[1][3] Other areas such as training, administration, civil defense and technical design remained under RLM's control.