|
♦ 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
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