Rustmästare

Sergeant

Överfurir

Rustmästare is a former Swedish rank that literally means the one responsible for the armory.

History and related ranks

Origin 1600

Rustmästare was originally an underofficer rank and the holder of the rank was responsible for the care of the armory, weponary and ammunition within a company.

1833/87

Holders of the rank were elevated to Furir.

1957

The rank was reintroduced as the highest rank witin the Underbefäls category.

1972

Holders of the rank were eleveated to Fanjunkare and the rank was removed.

Reform 1972 - Rank inflation phase I

Prior to 1972, military personnel were divided into three categories Underbefäl (non-commissioned officers), Underofficerare (warrant officers) and Officerare (commissioned officers). The reform established a four-career-path system with four categories as described below and carried out major promotions of most personnel below the rank Överstelöjtnant.

The Underbefäl category was split into two categories

  • gruppbefäl to include
korpral - former vicekorpral
furir - former korpral
överfurir - former furir
  • plutonsofficerare to include
sergeant - former överfurir
fanjunkare - former elderly överfurir and rustmästare

The Underofficer category was renamed kompaniofficerare to include

fänrik - former sergeant and fanjunkare with less than 3 years of service
löjtnant - former sergeant and fanjunkare with 3-7 years of service
kapten - former sergeant, fanjunkare with a minimum of 7 years of serviceand and förvaltare

The Officer category was renamed regementsofficerare to include

löjtnant - Löjtnant with less than 3 years of service and former fänrik
kapten - kapten with less than 11 years of service and former Löjtnant with 3-11 years of service
major - former kapten and löjtnant with a minimum of 11 years of service
överstelöjtnant - överstelöjtnant and former major
higher ranks

Reform 1983 - Rank inflation phase II

All categories were merged into one professional officer category with the lowest rank set to fänrik. Furir, överfurir, sergeant and fanjunkare were removed as a professional ranks. Holders of the rank fanjunkare were promoted to löjtnant and the rest to fänrik.

See also

[1] [2] [3]

References

  1. The Swedish Armed Forces official website - military ranks (accessed on July 13, 2007) (in Swedish)
  2. http://www.goarmy.com/about/ranks_and_insignia.jsp USA enlisted ranks