BACKGROUND: The Reichsluftwaffe was officially established on February 26TH 1935 as the third branch of service of the German Armed Forces. On March 9TH 1935 the formation of the new Reichsluftwaffe was announced to the foreign press and on March 16TH conscription was reintroduced for all three branches of service. On May 21ST 1935 the Reichsluftwaffe designation was altered to Luftwaffe. Collar tabs were adopted by the newly formed Luftwaffe on April 14TH 1935 and followed the basic pattern of the collar tabs that had been utilized by its earlier civilian forerunner the, DLV, Deutscher Luftsport Verband, (German Air Sports League). The collar tabs were worn in matching pairs and usually indicated the branch of service and rank/position of the wearer. The German army had a tradition, dating from the 1700's, of maintaining a separate branch of Administrative Official’s attached to the army to oversee all administrative functions, thus freeing up active army Officer’s and allowing them to concentrate on actual military matters. The Official’s were responsible for a wide variety of administrative tasks from Court Martial, Librarian, Supply, Technical and Meteorological Services, to School, Barracks, and Hospital administration. Most officials careers consisted of four varying grades, of high, elevated, medium and low grade with slightly differing identifying insignia for each grade. The grade of the career was determined by the education and/or experience of the individual. Prior to the official formation of the Luftwaffe they also established a separate branch of Administrative Official’s who were not classed as military personnel but rather as civilian members of the Luftwaffe. The different branches of service within the Luftwaffe were allocated specific identifying waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), with dark green being chosen for all Administrative Official’s with a secondary color, (Nebenfarbe), determining their actual career/function that was only displayed on the shoulder straps/boards. The Administrative Official’s collar tabs were somewhat different then the standard Luftwaffe collar tabs in that they utilized rank/position triangular pips as opposed to the rank "gulls". The Administrative Official’s collar tabs did not indicate a specific rank/position but rather rank/position groups within specific career levels. The collar tab piping distinguished the particular career level with high grade career personnel having gilt piping, elevated career personnel with silver/aluminum piping, medium grade career personnel with alternating silver/aluminum and green piping and no piping for low grade career personnel.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Dark green wool construction collar tab with one hand embroidered triangular rank/position pips positioned above an opened top, oak-leaf half-wreath all in bright silver/aluminum wire threads. The collar tab is piped in twisted bright silver/aluminum cord and are mounted on buckram backings. Luftwaffebeamte Kriegsinspektor (2nd Lieutenant equivalent).