During World War I, Student flew against the Russians and was one of four pilots to test a new kind of fighter plane, called a Fokker. In 1916, he was sent to the western front, where he led a group of fighter pilots called a flying circus. He was badly wounded in an aerial battle between fighter planes and crash-landed.
Having lost the war, Germany was not permitted to maintain an air force. In defiance of that ban, 180 German officers formed the Central Flying Office and secretly planned a modern air force. The army encouraged young Germans to take up the sport of gliding, and Student supported the young glider pilots with secret funds from the military. In 1923, Student crashed while gliding and fractured his skull, but managed to recover.
Rapid Promotions in Luftwaffe
Student became director of Air Technical Training Schools in 1932. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he created the German air force, called the Luftwaffe. Student was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Luftwaffe and created new technical courses and training programs for airmen. He received a second promotion in 1935. As colonel, his responsibilities included weapons and equipment.
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