Obergefreiter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obergefreiter is rank of the German military which dates from the 19th century.

The rank was only used in German army's heavy artillery branch ('Fußartillerie') before 1919 and commonly established with the founding of the Reichswehr. Translated as "Senior Lance-Corporal", in WWII the rank was normally given to soldiers who have command over small squads or to those soldiers who hold the rank of Gefreiter who have performed a significant feat of achievement.

In today's Bundeswehr, every Gefreiter is normally promoted Obergefreiter after 3 months of being a Gefreiter. Thus, a German draftee leaves the Bundeswehr as Obergefreiter after his nine months of service. The NATO-Code is OR-3 which would make Obergefreiter the equivalent to Private / Airman / Seaman First Class. Like all enlisted personnel ranks in the German Bundeswehr, soldiers of this rank have no military authority over other enlisted personnel ranked below them (for instance "Schütze" or "Gefreiter").