''Stabsfeldwebel '' (StFw or SF; ) is the second highest Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in German Army and German Air Force. It is grouped as OR-8 in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, equivalent to a First Sergeant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, and to

Warrant Officer Class 2 Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mo ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Promotion to the rank requires at least twelve years total active duty, of which at least eleven years have elapsed since promotion to ''

unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name to ...

'', with at least ten years since promotion to ''

stabsunteroffizier ''Stabsunteroffizier'' is a military rank of the German Bundeswehr. It was preceded by the rank ''Unterfeldwebel'' that was used between 1935 and 1945 in the armed forces of Nazi Germany, the Wehrmacht. The East German National People's Army used t ...

'', and nine years since promotion to ''

feldwebel ''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...

''. In army/ air force context NCOs of this rank were formally addressed as ''Herr Stabsfeldwebel'' also informally / short ''Staber''.

History

Austria-Hungary

The ranks ''Stabsfeldwebel'', ''Stabsoberjäger'', ''Stabsfeuerwerker'' and ''Stabswachtmeister'' were introduced to the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

in 1913.

Germany

The rank was introduced in 1938 by the German Army, and was equivalent to the '' Kriegsmarines ''Stabsoberfeldwebel'' grades (''Stabsoberbootsmann'', ''Stabsobersteuermann'' and ''Stabsobersteuwermann''). The rank was only named ''Stabsfeldwebel'' within the infantry, as other services had other traditions and names. In the cavalry and artillery the rank was called ''

Stabswachtmeister Stabswachtmeister (short: StWm) is in the Austrian Bundesheer a NCO-rank. As lowest grade of the Staff-NCO rank group he is normally dedicated to command a platoon or to serve in a military staff appointment (assignment group M BUO 1 / professio ...

'', and in the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

it was called SS-'' Sturmscharführer''. The rank was also used in the GDR

Land Forces of the National People's Army The Land Forces of the National People's Army (german: Landstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee – LaSK), was the ground-based military branch of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) National People's Army (NPA). The Land Forces Command, loc ...

and was equivalent to '' Stabsobermeister'' in the ''

Volksmarine The ''Volksmarine'' (VM, ; en, People's Navy) was the naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The ''Volksmarine'' was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a coasta ...

''.

Rank sequence

The sequence of ranks (top-down approach) in that particular group ('' Senior NCOs with portepee'') is as follows: *OR-9: / *OR-8: / *OR-7: / *OR-6: / *OR-6: /

References

Sources

*BROCKHAUS, Die Enzyklopädie in 24 Bänden (1796–2001), Band 5: 3-7653-3665-3, p. 487, Definition: ''Stabsfeldwebel'' *BROCKHAUS, Die Enzyklopädie in 24 Bänden (1796–2001), Band 7: 3-7653-3676-9, p. 185, ''Stabsfeldwebel'' {{German military ranks Military ranks of Germany Military ranks of Austria