German Army rank insignia
The German Heer distinguishes three career paths: officers (Offiziere), NCOs (Unteroffiziere) and enlisted men (Mannschaften)
Rank insignia are worn on both shoulders.
officers
| Shoulder insignia | Abbr. | Rank | NATO equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen | General | OF-9 | |
| GenLt | Generalleutnant | OF-8 | |
| GenMaj | Generalmajor | OF-7 | |
| BriGen | Brigadegeneral | OF-6 | |
| O | Oberst | OF-5 | |
| OTL | Oberstleutnant | OF-4 | |
| Maj | Major | OF-3 | |
| StHptm | Stabshauptmann (only in specialist officer careers) | OF-2 | |
| Hptm | Hauptmann | OF-2 | |
| OLt | Oberleutnant | OF-1 | |
| Lt | Leutnant | OF-1 | |
| officer candidates | NCO equivalent | ||
| OFR | Oberfähnrich | Hauptfeldwebel | |
| FR | Fähnrich | Feldwebel | |
| Fhj | Fahnenjunker | Unteroffizier | |
| OG OA | Obergefreiter (Offiziersanwärter) | OA may be combined with any enlisted rank | |
Officer careers usually start as enlisted men. At some point during their first months of service officer candidates receive a silver string (Litze) to be worn with their rank insignia designating them officer candidates (Offiziersanwärter). After successfully completing special training they are promoted Fahnenjunker after at least 12 months of service and return to their units. Another officer training program needs to be completed to be promoted Fähnrich after a minimum of 22 months of service. Further promotions after 30 and 39 months are more or less automatic. After this, young officers usually leave their units for 3.5 to 4 years of non-military education at one of the Bundeswehr universities.
non-commisioned officers
| Shoulder insignia | Abbr. | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| OStFw | Oberstabsfeldwebel | |
| StFw | Stabsfeldwebel | |
| HFw | Hauptfeldwebel | |
| OFw | Oberfeldwebel | |
| Fw | Feldwebel | |
| StUffz | Stabsunteroffizier | |
| Uffz | Unteroffizier | |
| NCO candidates | ||
| OG UA | Obergefreiter (Unteroffiziersanwärter) | |
| UA may be combined with any enlisted rank | ||
NCOs (Unteroffiziere) play an important role in the Heer as they are entrusted the command of most sub-company units. Especially Feldwebel and above carry similar responsibilities officers have. This is largely due to the German military doctrine of Auftragstaktik (task-based tactics): German orders usually do not include specific instructions, but rather a task, the available time and the available means. This gives leaders of smaller units a great deal of freedom and responsibility.
Enlisted personnel
| Shoulder insignia | Abbr. | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| OSG | Oberstabsgefreiter | |
| SG | Stabsgefreiter | |
| HG | Hauptgefreiter | |
| OG | Obergefreiter | |
| G | Gefreiter | |
| S | Soldat (Soldier) |
Enlisted personnel is largely made up of conscripts serving their nine months of mandatory service. A nine-month-soldier usually leaves the Army as Obergefreiter, but he may be promoted Hauptgefreiter effective the day of his discharge. Higher enlisted ranks are usually held by soldiers who either voluntarily serve several additional months and those who signed long-term contracts for pursuing officer or NCO careers but faild their training requirements.
The most important destinction between NCOs and enlisted men is that the latter cannot give orders to lower-ranked soldiers unless under very specific circumstances (e.g. while on guard duty).
The rank Soldat is replaced by ranks specific to their units:
- Funker (Fu) Signaller
- Grenadier (Gren)
- Jäger (Jg)
- Kanonier (Kan) artillery soldier
- Pionier (Pi) pioneer
- Panzerfunker (PzFu)
- Panzergrenadier (PzGren)
- Panzerjäger (PzJg)
- Panzerkanonier (PzKan)
- Panzerpionier (PzPi)
- Panzerschütze (PzSchtz)
- Sanitätssoldat (SanSdt) medic
- Schütze (Schtz)
Categories: Army | Military ranks by country | Military ranks | Military of Germany