German Army rank insignia

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The German Heer (as the German Luftwaffe) distinguishes three career paths: officers (Offiziere), NCOs (Unteroffiziere) and enlisted men (Mannschaften).

Rank insignia are worn on both shoulders.

[edit] Officers

Shoulder insignia	Abbr.	Rank (American Equivalent)	NATO equivalent
	G Gen	General	OF-9
	GL GenLt	Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)	OF-8
	GM GenMaj	Generalmajor (Major General)	OF-7
	BG BrigGen	Brigadegeneral (Brigadier General)	OF-6
	O Oberst	Oberst (Colonel)	OF-5
	OTL OberstLt	Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)	OF-4
	M Maj	Major (Major)	OF-3
	SH StHptm	Stabshauptmann (only in specialist officer careers)	OF-2
	H Hptm	Hauptmann (Captain)	OF-2
	OL OLt	Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant)	OF-1
	L Lt	Leutnant (Second Lieutenant)	OF-1
officer candidates			NCO equivalent
	OFR OFähnr	Oberfähnrich	Hauptfeldwebel
	FR Fähnr	Fähnrich	Feldwebel
	FJ Fhj	Fahnenjunker	Unteroffizier
	OG OA	Obergefreiter (Offizieranwärter)	OA may be combined with any enlisted rank

Career officers usually start as enlisted personnel. 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 (Offizieranwärter). 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. Usually officer candidates are promoted to Leutnant after 36 months of service. After this, young officers usually leave their units for 3.5 to 4 years of non-military education at one of the Bundeswehr universities.

[edit] Non-commissioned officers

Shoulder insignia	Abbr.	Rank	NATO equivalent
	OSF OStFw	Oberstabsfeldwebel	OR9
	SF StFw	Stabsfeldwebel	OR8
	HF HptFw	Hauptfeldwebel	OR7 / OR8
	OF OFw	Oberfeldwebel	OR6
	F Fw	Feldwebel	OR6
	SU StUffz	Stabsunteroffizier	OR5
	U Uffz	Unteroffizier	OR4
NCO candidates
	OG UA	Obergefreiter (Unteroffizieranwärter)	OR2
	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: 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.

[edit] Enlisted personnel

Shoulder insignia	Abbr.	Rank
	OSG OStGefr	Oberstabsgefreiter
	SG StGefr	Stabsgefreiter
	HG HptGefr	Hauptgefreiter
	OG OGefr	Obergefreiter
	G Gefr	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 der Reserve (private 1st class in reserve) 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 failed their training requirements.

The most important distinction 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: