''Stabsfeldwebel '' (StFw or SF; ) is the second highest

Non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

(NCO) rank in

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

and

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

. It is grouped as OR-8 in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, equivalent to a

First Sergeant First sergeant is typically a senior non-commissioned officer rank, used in many countries. Singapore First sergeant is a Specialist (Singapore), specialist in the Singapore Armed Forces. First sergeants are the most senior of the junior spe ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, 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 officer ranks, ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. 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 use ...

'', and nine years since promotion to ''

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, occupied Serbia ...

''. 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, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

in 1913.

Germany

The rank was introduced in 1938 by the

as the highest NCO rank, and was equivalent to the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

s ''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 (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

it was called SS-''

Sturmscharführer __NOTOC__ (; ) was a Nazi rank of the Waffen-SS that existed between 1934 and 1945. The rank was the most senior enlisted rank in the Waffen-SS, the equivalent of a regimental sergeant major, in other military organizations. Rank usage ''Stur ...

''. 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 ( – LaSK) was the ground-based military branch of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) National People's Army (NPA). The Land Forces Command, located at Geltow, was established on 1 December 1972 ...

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

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

''.

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