Alikersantti ( Undersergeant in Swedish) is the lowest

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 ...

non-commissioned officer military rank. Alikersantti is one rank above a Korpraali (

Lance-Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equ ...

) and one below a Kersantti (

Sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

). A holder of this rank is typically a squad leader, assistant squad leader, gun section leader or a fighting vehicle commander.

Obtaining the rank

Conscripts are first given basic military training for 2 months. About 30% are selected for NCO training (''aliupseerikoulu'' or ''AUK''), which lasts 4 months. Most ''alikersantti''s are posted to companies for squad leader duty. This is the most common conscript leader rank. Additionally, in many specialist branches with a 12-month service the rank is given automatically and the ''alikersantti'' is not given a command, e.g. assistant mechanic (''apumekaanikko'') in the Air Force. It is also the highest rank that can be given to a soldier that has not completed any NCO course.

History and related ranks

References

Military ranks of Finland Military insignia {{mil-rank-stub fi:Alikersantti