♦ German Armed Forces World War II ♦

Table of Noncommissioned Officer & Enlisted Ranks

 

HEER LUFTWAFFE KRIEGSMARINE WAFFEN-SS
SENIOR NCOS  •   Unteroffiziere mit Portepee
Stabsfeldwebel  •  Sergeant Major Stabsfeldwebel
Chief Master Sergeant
Stabsoberfeldwebel
Master Chief Petty Officer
SS-Sturmscharführer
Sergeant Major
Oberfeldwebel  •  Master Sergeant Oberfeldwebel
Senior Master Sergeant
Oberfeldwebel
Senior Chief Petty Officer
SS-Hauptscharführer
Master Sergeant
Feldwebel  •  Sergeant First Class Feldwebel  •  Master Sergeant Stabsfeldwebel
Chief Petty Officer
SS-Oberscharführer
Sergeant First Class
Feldwebel
Petty Officer 1st Class
JUNIOR NCOs   •   Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee
Unterfeldwebel  • Staff Sergeant Unterfeldwebel
Technical Sergeant
Obermaat
Petty Officer 2nd Class
SS-Scharführer  • Staff Sergeant
Unteroffizier  •  Sergeant Unteroffizier  •  Staff Sergeant Maat
Petty Officer 3rd Class
SS-Unterscharführer  •  Sergeant
LOWER ENLISTED PERSONNEL
Oberstabsgefreiter  •  See Notes
Stabsgefreiter  •  Senior Corporal Stabsgefreiter  •  Senior Airman Stabsgefreiter  •  Corporal
Obergefreiter  •  Corporal Hauptgrefreiter  •  See Notes Hauptgefreiter  •  See Notes SS-Rottenführer  •  Corporal
Gefreiter  •  Private 1st Class Obergefreiter  •  Airman 1st Class Obergefreiter  •  Seaman 1st Class SS-Sturmmann  •  Private 1st Class

Obersoldat •  Private E-2

Gefreiter  •  Airman Gefreiter  •  Seaman 2nd Class SS-Oberschütze •  Private E-2
Soldat  • Private Flieger  • Airman Basic Matrose  •  Seaman Apprentice SS-Schütze  • Private


 
                           

NCOs of the Wehrmacht. Left to right: Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS (Bundesarchiv)


Notes

Noncommissioned officer ranks of the Wehrmacht were divided into two classes: Unteroffiziere mit Portepee (senior NCOs) and Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee (junior NCOs). The German word Portapee derives from the French porte-épée and denotes a senior NCO entitled to wear an officer's sword and sword knot with service and dress uniform.

The Heer, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS had five NCO ranks, three senior and two junior; the Kriegsmarine had six, four senior and two junior. In the cavalry and certain other branches of the Heer, the title Wachtmeister was used in place of Feldwebel, e.g. Stabswachtmeister. NCO rank titles of the Waffen-SS originated with the Nazi Party's paramilitary organization, the Sturmabteilung (SA or Stormtroopers), of which the SS was originally a part.

NCO ranks were also borne by officer candidates of the Herr, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS. In that case Fahnenjunker or Junker was added to the rank title, e.g. Fahnenjunker-Feldwebel, (Heer, Luftwaffe), SS-Standartenjunker (Waffen-SS), and two stripes of NCO braid were added across the base of the shoulder straps.

Hauptfeldwebel was not a rank but an appointment (Heer, Luftwaffe) denoting the senior NCO of of a company-sized unit, analogous to the US Army First Sergeant. A Hauptfeldwebel had to be of senior NCO rank; the insignia of his position were two rings of NCO lace above the cuff, worn in addition to his normal NCO insignia of rank. The equivalent Waffen-SS appointment was SS-Stabsscharführer. An NCO serving in this position was informally referred to as der Spieß, after the sword carried by NCOs in former times.

The lower enlisted rank system was similar for the Heer, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS, but the Kriegsmarine had six ranks in this group, the senior three of which approximate the rank of corporal or specialist. As in the US Navy, the rank titles given in the table were generic and rated sailors had rank titles indicating their rate, e.g. Matrosengefreiter for a rated seaman in the deck branch. The Luftwaffe rank of Hauptgrefeiter was abolished in 1944, leaving four lower enlisted ranks. The Waffen-SS never had more than four. The lowest-ranking soldiers of the Heer had no insignia, and the two lowest ranks were titled according to branch, e.g. Kanonier, Oberkanonier (Artillery).

As far as possible, the English-language rank titles given in the table are those currently in use by the US armed forces that most closely approximate Wehrmacht ranks.
 

 

Copyright © 2021 by Thomas M. Gregg. All Rights Reserved
 

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