A question about V-shped chevron on right sleeve

[Kolia Huang]

@ Kolja

I just noticed something, which is not quite correct. The picture of the navy uniform with Marksman cord, Qualification badge and Bester badge is the one I refer to. If he wears the Bester badge, he must also have the military sports badge ( the para NCO weras it as a single one on his right breast pocket) and there should also be the sports badge of the GDR and the badge for "good knowledge" (sorry, difficult to translate). Only then he would be able to wear the "Bester" badge.

However, he can have various of the others but would not have the Bester badge.

Dag

Thank you very much!

but I still have two questionso you mean that a Enlisted Man ,Sergeant or Petty Officer who has awarded the Bester badge must be awarded the Sports badge of the GDR or the NVA before?

and Do the female soldiers in NVA,MfS,Volkspolizei could wear the V-shaped chevron?

[Dag]

Dag, obviously not disputing this...as you may guess, at my 2 1/2 years at the OHS I did not get to see many NCO's or EM's... all officers, Faehnriche the odd General and lots of Oschis of course...so, if you had to take yours off in October 1986, then I was right and they were stopped in 1986?? However, it looks like they were still being used in Volksmarine until 1990. .

Torsten,

Just to clarify: We did not HAVE to take them off. We did it on our own account because none of the NCOs in our coy wore them. However, in other units (signals, medic, regimental staff) they still wore them.

We were TANKERS, we ruled!
I know from my brother, who started at US III in 1988, that they had to put them on as well and he had to wear them until September 1989 (at PR 21), when he was posted to Wittenberg, to work in his civvi job...driving diesel engines for Deutsche Reichsbahn.


[/QUOTE]
The Keubke book simply states that the single chevron would be used only for men serving more than 3 years and then the two chevrons for anyone serving more than 5 years and that would of course exclude any UaZ, like you...but then again, maybe the book is wrong, or it was simply accepted practice to just wear the chevron anyway, even if you had not served more than three years..??...Cheers, Torsten.[/QUOTE]

No, the double Chevron was worn by those who did SAZ or BU and served for more then 5 years (I think, in the 60ies and early 70ies the system was very much like the SaZ system in the BuWe now). Wearing of double chevrons was stopped with the introduction of the new/different uniforms in the late 70ies. At least that is my understanding.

Have to read up again...

Cheers,
Dag

PS Off to Beltring now, commanding T-72 for the next few days...

[Dag]

Thank you very much!

but I still have two questionso you mean that a Enlisted Man ,Sergeant or Petty Officer who has awarded the Bester badge must be awarded the Sports badge of the GDR or the NVA before?

and Do the female soldiers in NVA,MfS,Volkspolizei could wear the V-shaped chevron?

Kolia,
You could only be awarded the Bester badge if you achieved the following within the six month training period (summer or winter):

Qualification badge, Marksman cord, Badge for good knowledge, general sports badge of the GDR in GOLD, Military sports badge. The general sports badge in GOLD was a requirement to achieve the Military sportsbadge).

There were various levels for some of badges and they were only valid for a limited period, so that you had to repeat the exams/tests, for example for the Marksman cord. You would then get one acorn for the first repetition and two acorns for the second repetition. They would be tied to the cord.

The answer to the second question is YES, as far as I know. The chevron was related to the time of service, not gender. So, if a girl decided to serve 3 years as a NCO (signals, medics, admin, some technical areas) she would have worn the chevron.

Please remember that girls were always volunteers as they did not get callled up for national service. The minimum they had to serve as a volunteer was three years (my knowledge)

Dag

[torstenbel]

now then, I have just checked in the Keubke book and it confirms that the single chevron was used for above three years service and the double chevron would have been used for above 5 years service. These were used for EM and NCO only. They were used from 1956 onwards. Cheers, Torsten.

Just checked through the Keubke book again and I can now confirm, that my above explanation is correct from 1956b to 1965. From 1965 different style chevrons were introduced and single chevrons were for UaZ and EM's that served more than 18 months and double chevrons were used for Berufsunteroffiziere, i.e. 10 years service. And I would also repeat my earlier observation, that it is very unlikely that the Falli Stabsfeldwebel below would have made it to that rank as an UaZ, but that he was a Berufsunteroffizier and, therefore it should be carrying two chevrons and not just the one. Cheers, Torsten.

[Kolia Huang]

Kolia,
Qualification badge, Marksman cord, Badge for good knowledge, general sports badge of the GDR in GOLD, Military sports badge. The general sports badge in GOLD was a requirement to achieve the Military sportsbadge).

There were various levels for some of badges and they were only valid for a limited period,

Thank you very much!

How long does the period?6 months?