Unteroffizier
Encyclopedia
Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...

 as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

s of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

n Army of the 19th century. The term continues to be used by the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

.

There are two classes of non-commissioned officers (in the following, the titles of the German Navy [Deutsche Marine] are given in brackets):
  • Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee
    Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee
    Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee is the designation for German junior non-commissioned officers in the German army...

    , comprising:
    • Unteroffizier (Maat)
    • Stabsunteroffizier (Obermaat)
  • Unteroffiziere mit Portepee
    Unteroffiziere mit Portepee
    Unteroffiziere mit Portepee, literally "petty officers with swordknot", is the designation for German senior non-commissioned officers in the German Army. The name derives from earlier traditions in which senior enlisted men would carry a sword into battle. The word portepee derives from French...

    , comprising:
    • Feldwebel
      Feldwebel
      Feldwebel is a German military rank which has existed since at least the 18th century with usage as a title dating to the Middle Ages. The word Feldwebel is usually translated as sergeant being rated OR-6 in the NATO rank comparison scale, equivalent to the British Army Sergeant and the US Army...

       (Bootsmann
      Bootsmann
      Bootsmann was a highest-ranking Petty Officer position in German naval forces. A lower-ranking Bootsmann was called Bootsmannsmaat. These names were adopted for the Russian Navy as боцман and боцманмат by Peter the Great, among many other Prussian and Holland military ranks; they were initially...

      )
    • Oberfeldwebel (Oberbootsmann)
    • Hauptfeldwebel
      Hauptfeldwebel
      In the German military, the appointment of Hauptfeldwebel was the German equivalent of a Commonwealth Company Sergeant Major or American Company First Sergeant. There was one such non-commissioned officer in every infantry company, artillery battery, cavalry squadron, etc...

       (Hauptbootsmann)
    • Stabsfeldwebel (Stabsbootsmann)
    • Oberstabsfeldwebel (Oberstabsbootsmann).

Informally, the non-commissioned officers with portepee are often called "the Feldwebel [Bootsmann] ranks" or even altogether Feldwebel [Bootsleute], which creates a similar confusion as exists already with the word Unteroffizier. In the navy, the official terms remain more common. The word Unteroffizier, in turn, is getting a third meaning, namely: non-commissioned officer without portepee, as opposed to Feldwebel. Note that officers and Feldwebel are together referred to by the unofficial but common term "Dienstgrade" (literally: "military ranks", but used on persons - though of course the lower ranks are ranks as well), whereas Unteroffiziere and Stabsunteroffiziere are excluded, maybe with the exception of basic training units.

Unteroffizier translates as "under-officer" or "sub-officer" and, when meaning the specific rank, is the equivalent to an American sergeant. The main difference consists in the fact that adverse to the British or American Army the German Army relied on compulsory conscription since at least 1870. In times of peace an Unteroffizier was a career soldier who trained conscripts or led squads and platoons. He could rise through the ranks to become an "Unteroffizier mit Portepee", i.e. a Feldwebel, which was the highest rank a career soldier could reach. Since the German officer corps was immensely class conscious a rise through the ranks from a NCO to become an officer was hardly possible except in times of war.
The Unteroffizierskorps was made up of professional soldiers which formed the backbone of German armies. This tradition has not been changed by the Bundeswehr which is a classical conscript army but where all ranks of Unteroffizier and up consist only of professional soldiers who sign up for a period extending consciption.

Unteroffizier is one of the few German military ranks whose insignia has remained unchanged over the past one hundred years. The shoulder boards of a modern Unteroffizier are relatively similar to the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 designs.

During the Second World War, in the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

, an Unteroffizier in an infantry platoon normally commanded a squad
Squad
In military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition this organization is referred to as a section...

 of 9 or 10 men, and was thus equivalent to an American Army sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 or a British Army corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

. The "equivalent" rank is therefore given as both of these ranks depending on which references are consulted.

A modern day German Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

Army Unteroffizier typically commands squad
Squad
In military terminology, a squad is a small military unit led by a non-commissioned officer that is subordinate to an infantry platoon. In countries following the British Army tradition this organization is referred to as a section...

 sized formations or acts as an assistant platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...

 NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

. The rank is also used in the modern-day German Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

. In the Bundeswehr the grade of Stabsunteroffizier (a Junior NCO) ranks between Unteroffizier and Feldwebel (a Senior NCO).
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