Sotilasmestari ( Militärmästare in Swedish,

Chief Warrant Officer Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, th ...

Sergeant Major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

in English) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

military rank above

Ylivääpeli Ylivääpeli ( Överfältväbel in Swedish) is a Finnish military rank above Vääpeli ( Fältväbel) and below Sotilasmestari ( Militärmästare). History and related ranks The rank was introduced to promote professional NCOs, graduated from M ...

( Överfältväbel) and below

Vänrikki ''Vänrikki'' () (Second lieutenant, Swedish: ''Fänrik''), from the German ''fähnrich'', is a Finnish commissioned officer rank (OF1). A typical assignment for a professional ''vänrikki'' is as junior instructor of recruits. Finland The ra ...

(

Fänrik ''Fänrik'' () ( en, second lieutenant in the Swedish Army/Air Force, Acting sub-lieutenant in the Navy) is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above sergeant and below lieutenant. In the navy, it ranks above sergeant and ...

History and related ranks

The rank derives from the ''erikoismestari'' ("Master Specialist") rank that was originally available only in some branches of service. Early in the history of independent Finland's armed forces, graduates of the professional NCO school (see ''

Maanpuolustusopisto Maanpuolustusopisto (MpO, "National Defence Institute") was the military junior college of the Finnish Defence Forces, located in Lappeenranta. The school had a separate program for training officers "vocationally" such that they would graduate a ...

'') were promoted to ''

vääpeli Vääpeli ( Fältväbel in Swedish) is a Finnish and former Swedish Non-commissioned officer military rank above Ylikersantti (Översergeant) and below Ylivääpeli ( Överfältväbel). The rank is derived from the German rank Feldwebel and was ...

'' ("Sergeant First Class") upon graduation, but could not be promoted further, which led to frustration among outstandingly competent NCOs. Because of this, the ''erikoismestari'' rank was made available to all branches, and renamed ''sotilasmestari'' (Sergeant Major, "Master Soldier" directly translated from Finnish). Furthermore, the rank of ''

ylivääpeli Ylivääpeli ( Överfältväbel in Swedish) is a Finnish military rank above Vääpeli ( Fältväbel) and below Sotilasmestari ( Militärmästare). History and related ranks The rank was introduced to promote professional NCOs, graduated from M ...

'' ("Master Sergeant") was also introduced. A Finnish speciality was that ''sotilasmestari'' was ranked higher in Finnish army than ''

vänrikki ''Vänrikki'' () (Second lieutenant, Swedish: ''Fänrik''), from the German ''fähnrich'', is a Finnish commissioned officer rank (OF1). A typical assignment for a professional ''vänrikki'' is as junior instructor of recruits. Finland The ra ...

'' (Second Lieutenant) in peace time. That was because ''sotilasmestari'' was a professional soldier with decades of experience, but ''

'' (Second Lieutenant) was a young reservist or a fresh graduate of the Cadet School. In wartime, the tables turned and ''

'' (Second Lieutenant) rank was higher than ''sotilasmestari''. In a 1993 reform, the professional NCO school (

) was "upgraded" such that graduates received the rank of ''

'' (Second Lieutenant) upon graduation, and the intermediate ranks (''vääpeli, ylivääpeli, sotilasmestari'') were no longer actively awarded. The old NCOs with these ranks in active service were automatically promoted to officers overnight in August 1994. The rank of ''sotilasmestari'' remained active until the last NCOs with the rank retired, or were promoted to '' luutnantti'' (First Lieutenant). The professional NCO corps was founded again in 2007, and these ranks were reactivated. Only the old Finnish speciality that ''sotilasmestari'' was senior to ''

'' in peacetime was abolished.