(). By September 1939, the Luftwaffe had a total of 4,000 aircraft and 400,000 personnel. This strength had grown to 1,700,000 by 1941. In total, 571,000 of these were in anti-aircraft units and another 18 percent were in the signals branch. Only 36 percent or 588,000 comprised aircrew, but this also included the aircraft maintenance personnel. When the war ended on 8 May 1945, more than 97,000 air-crew would be reported dead, wounded or missing. Organizational levels All aspects of aviation including the Luftwaffe, came under the control of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM), the Reich Air Ministry. Since the Luftwaffe was one of the three armed forces, it came under the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces from a military command point of view () (OKW). Göring was the cabinet minister of aviation () during most of this period. He also served as the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe (). As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for civil aviation and all aspects of aircraft manufacturing and supply. Operationally, the Luftwaffe command was shared by the Inspector of Combat Flight () and the Inspector of Fighters () along with the Secretary of State for Aviation. The German air force was divided into three operational branches: Flying Troops Anti-Aircraft Artillery Air Signal Troops These three branches were further divided into sub-branches such as Paratroops, air engineering, air medical corps and air-crew. Since the Luftwaffe was organized in a geographical fashion rather than on a strategic functional basis, it had an independent administrative as well as an operational command structures. Each geographical area had its own supply and maintenance corps. For this reason, any aviation units moving within that geographical area did not need to carry its own maintenance staff. This allowed for a great deal of mobility within the Luftwaffe. Strategic Strategically, all three German military forces were part of a single service called, "The Defensive Power" (; from (Verb), to defend; and , the Power, Might) controlled by the (OKW); the head of the OKW was part of the Cabinet. Within the OKW, each service was headed by its own operational command: Commander in Chief of the Army () Commander in Chief of the Air Force () Commander in Chief of the Navy () The top levels of control of the Luftwaffe resided with the RLM, the German Air Ministry and its operational branch, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL),