Bundeswehr rank question

[usmedalman]

I was reading uniform regs for the Bundeswehr looking for details on the wear of collar piping and came across the term, Unteroffizier mit Portepee. Could someone please explain this what this term means and just what rank it is? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Klaus1989]

Unteroffizier mit Portepee refers to what I think called "senior NCO" ranks in English. So it is not actual ranks but group of ranks. In earlier times (Imperial Germany and Third Reich), it referred to NCOs with privilege to wear sword knots. The junior NCO ranks did not have this privliege and were called Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee. Of course, Bw never wore swords but term is German military tradition.

In Bundeswehr Unteroffiziere mit Portepee include ranks of Fähnrich to Oberstabsfeldwebel. Note that the two Fähnrich ranks are training grades.

regards
Klaus

[usmedalman]

Unteroffizier mit Portepee refers to what I think called "senior NCO" ranks in English. So it is not actual ranks but group of ranks. In earlier times (Imperial Germany and Third Reich), it referred to NCOs with privilege to wear sword knots. The junior NCO ranks did not have this privliege and were called Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee. Of course, Bw never wore swords but term is German military tradition.

In Bundeswehr Unteroffiziere mit Portepee include ranks of Fähnrich to Oberstabsfeldwebel. Note that the two Fähnrich ranks are training grades.

regards
Klaus

Thanks for the information, Klaus.

[LIS]

Could someone help me with BW ranks system in 80-s years?
There is article on the Official site of Bundeswehr :
http://www.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/bw...h78sviSpwdA!!/
As I understood, today time of promotion for NCO`s and for officers are same as in 70-s and 80-s. But military conscription system in earlier years was different:

So how much time required for promotion to Gefreiter/Obergefreiter for conscripts and Hauptgefreiter/Stabsgefreiter/Oberstabsgefreiter for contract soldiers?

Thanks in advance.

[Lambert]

Today after 3 months of service and completion of basic training a soldier is promoted to Gefreiter and after 6 months to Obergefreiter and after 12 months to Hauptgefreiter.
Before 199X ( I don´t know the exact year) but it was somewehere in the middle of the 90s the required time in service was 6 months for Gefreiter and 12 for Obergefreiter. For Hauptgefreiter I´m not sure
A soldier could be promoted to Stabsgefeiter after 36 months. This rank only exists since 1990 and a promotion to Oberstabsgefreiter (introduced in 1996) is possible after 48 months of service.

[Proud Kraut]

I concur with Lambert. I think it was 1996 as well, when the reqired time to become Gefreiter was changed from 6 to 3 months service.
When the rank Oberstabsgefreiter was introduced in 1996, I asked for a pair of "Aufschiebeschlaufen" for the collection. Funny, but they weren't available during the first time. The troops/tailorings helped themselfes by sewing together Obergefreiter and Hauptgefreiter Aufschiebeschlaufen. These were awarded to the first Oberstabsgefreiten in 1996. Here's front and back of a pair of these "semi official put together" ranks:

http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/al...3936326661.jpg

http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/al...6563373536.jpg

[LIS]

Thank you very much for the answers, gents!

[Guardian 5]

Hello Gents,

Does anyone recognize these? They came with a lot of early Bundeswehr uniforms.

Many thanks,
TJ

[Collectinsteve]

Looks like genuine BW bevo ribbon, but made to look like WW2 camouflage uniform rank? I don't think I've ever seen anything to suggest this is BW issue, even TruVsu.

Steve

[comune1aclasse]

Hi!

this is curious! I have the same type of rank among my miscellanea but in Navy version:



I think the single bar is for the Unteroffizieranwärter distinction....but the mistery remains for the double bar....

Cheers,

Alex