In 1952 Panitzki joined Amt Blank the predecessor of the Federal Ministry of Defense which oversaw the early West German Rearmament process.

His tenure as inspector coincided with the high loss of life among German pilots due to accidents while flying the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter which earned the craft the nickname Witwenmacher ("widowmaker").

[2] He also advocated for the expansion of the German built and used Beja Airport located in Portugal which he did not think had been fully utilized.

[3] On 25 August 1966 Panitzki was dismissed, at his own request, by Federal Minister of Defence Kai-Uwe von Hassel because of comments made by him during an interview about the procurement of the F-104 Starfighter where he said the purchase was a “purely political decision”.

After his retirement, Panitzki was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1967 for his services.