Sperrle served on the air staff for "Wehrkreis" V (Military District 5) in Stuttgart from 1919 to 1923, then the Defence Ministry until 1924. Sperrle then served on the staff of the 4th Infantry Division near Dresden. Sperrle travelled to Lipetsk in the Soviet Union at this time, where the Germans maintained a secret air base and founded the Lipetsk fighter-pilot school. Sperrle purportedly visited the United Kingdom to observe Royal Air Force exercises. At Lipetsk, Hugo Sperrle and Kurt Student acted as senior directors which trained some 240 German pilots between 1924 and 1932.