German Army

Military Personnel Billet Groups, Functions, and Ranks Discussed

Generals NOTES:
Billet Group "A" This is only a simplified account of the German
Commander-in-Chief / General Officer in an "A" Group military personnel structure and hierarchy.
Oberbefehlshaber / General in A-Stelle Readers are warned that, as in all armies, they
were in actual fact more complicated, with
Ranks: Ranks: important differentiations being made between
Generalfeldmarschall General of the Army (Field Marshal) designations of rank, billet, function, and skill..
Generaloberst General
‘Billet’ indicates an appointment to (staffing of)
a position – also called a 'slot' – like Squad
Billet Group "F" Leader, Platoon Commander, Divisional
Commanding General / General Officer in an "F" Group Commander, Executive Officer, Supply
Kommandierender General / General in F-Stelle Sergeant, etc. Confusingly, in some cases, the
Ranks: Ranks: billet has the same designation as a rank, such
General Lieutenant General as Hauptfeldwebel.
der Infanterie of the Cavalry
der Kavallerie of the Infantry The equivalent Ranks given in English are
der Artillerie of the Artillery neither completely World War II British nor
der ... of the ... American, and is not going to satisfy any
specialist. (However a specialist would
probably not be reading this anyway). Nearly
all German officer ranks correspond to US
Billet Group "D"
Army ranks, although their terminology differs,
Divisional Commander / General Officer in a "D" Group
a Generalmajor being the equivalent of a
Divisionskommandeur / General in D-Stelle
brigadier general. Modern US Army rank
Ranks: Ranks: equivalents have some differences. There is one
Generalleutnant Major General more enlisted rank (Command Sergeant Major),
Generalstabsartz Major General (Medical Corps) and one more Warrant Officer rank (Warrant
Generalstabs-… Major General ( … ) Officer 3rd Class). US Army Warrant Officers
are counted as officers, not enlisted men. In the
German WWII Army, all ranks below 2nd
Billet Group "I" Lieutenant were enlisted men.
Infantry, Artillery, or Brigade Commander / General Officer in an "I" Group
Infanterie-, Artillerie-, Brigadekommandeur / Offizier in I-Stelle The German Army divided officers billets into
eight groups, depending on the function to be
Ranks: Ranks: carried out. German wartime officer ranks were
Generalmajor Brigadier General permanent, which often made it impossible for
Generalarzt Brigadier General (Medical Corps) German officers to be promoted to the higher
General- … Brigadier General ( … ) rank which their wartime billet would actually
have warranted. For example, although a
Captain normally staffed the billet of Company
Officers Commander, this was not always a rule. If there
were not enough Captains then a senior member
Billet Group "R" of a lower rank was assigned to that billet.
Regimental Commander / Officer in an "R" Group Conversely, if there were too many of a higher
Regimentskommandeur / Offizier in R-Stelle rank than one or more might be assigned a
lower ranking billet. Many Divisions were
Ranks: Ranks:
Oberst Colonel commanded by a Brigadier General - and even
Oberstarzt Colonel (Medical Corps) an occasional Colonel - instead of a Major
Oberst- … Colonel ( … ) General. Conversely, if a billet was particularly
critical, a higher-ranking person might be
assigned to that billet than would normally be
Billet Group "B" the case. Skill was preferred to rank. Promotion
Battalion Commander / Officer in a "B" Group was achieved by serving time. The function or
Abteilungs- bzw. Bataillonskommandeur / Offizier in B-Stelle billet filled as such was not a ground for
promotion.
Ranks: Ranks:
Oberstleutnant Lieutenant Colonel
The enlisted men were divided into three billet
Oberfeldarzt Lieutenant Colonel (Medical Corps)
groups: Senior Sergeants (Unteroffiziere mit
Oberfeld- … Lieutenant Colonel ( … )
Portepee) ("O" Group), Junior Sergeants
Major Major
(Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee) ("G" Group),
Oberstabsarzt Major (Medical Corps)
and Other Ranks (Mannschaften) ("M" Group).
Oberstabs- … Major ( … )
Enlisted members of the German Army had an
‘Occupation’ (Laufbahn), i.e. a career or field
Billet Group"K" of specialty, like Infantry, Supply, Finance and
Battery, Squadron, or Company Commander / Officer in a "K" Group so on. The occupation might be incorporated
Batterie-, Schwadron- bzw. Kompanieführer / Offizier in K-Stelle into the rank designation, such as
Ranks: Ranks: Beschlagschmiedobergefreiter, a farrier
Hauptmann Captain (horseshoe smith) corporal; or even be used
Rittmeister Captain (Cavalry Corps) instead of the rank designations, such as
Stabsarzt Captain (Medical Corps) Beschlagmeister, (‘Farrier Master’), who was
Stabsveterinär Captain (Veterinary Corps) an expert farrier sergeant.
Stabsmusikmeister Captain (Band)
Stabs- … Captain ( … ) The highest combat leader position held by an
enlisted man was that of platoon leader.
However, this usually applied only to the third
Billet Group "Z" and fourth platoons. All other combat command
Platoon Leader / Officer in a "Z" Group positions were held by officers. Sergeants and
Zugführer / Offizier in Z-Stelle Warrant Officers were in charge of logistics and
administration, freeing the officers for their
Ranks: Ranks: primary function of leading men into combat. It
Oberleutnant First Lieutenant was not unusual for senior enlisted men to
Oberazt First Lieutenant (Medical Corps) become involved in combat when the need
Obermusikmeister First Lieutenant (Band) arose, although the German Army considered it
Oberzahlmeister First Lieutenant (Paymaster Corps) a waste of skilled manpower to use these highly
Ober- … First Lieutenant ( … ) trained and experienced men for this purpose.
Leutnant Second Lieutenant
Asisstenzarzt Second Lieutenant (Medical Corps) German Tables of Organization (KStN –
Musikmeister Second Lieutenant (Band) Kriegsstärkenachweisungen) had many notes
Assistenzzahlmesiter Second Lieutenant (Paymaster Corps) indicating which billets and specialist slots were
Assistenz- … Second Lieutenant ( … ) to be filled with what ranks and specialists,
listing which billets had priority over others,
which could alternatively be filled by a person
Enlisted Men with specialized knowledge or skill, and which
billets should by preference be filled with
Billet Group "O" regular army personnel.
Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in an "O" Group
Oberfeldwebel (Unteroffiziere mit Portepee) Although it was expected to have rank and
billet corresponding to each other, this was far
Ranks: Ranks:
from the case. Specialist personnel was rare and
Stabsfeldwebel Warrant Officer First Class
 Obermeister Warrant Officer 1st Class of a Technical Establishment
Hauptfeldwebel Warrrant Officer 2nd Class many units were raised in a hurry, not having
Hauptwachtmeister Warrant Officer 2nd Class (Cavalry, Artillery, AA, enough time to acquire all its correct personnel.
Oberfeldwebel etc.) And once a units entered combat, the chances of
Oberwachtmeister Sergeant Major acquiring the exact, highly-skilled soldier for
Musikleiter Sergeant Major (Cavalry, Artillery, AA, etc.) the correct position often became merely a
etc. Sergeant Major (Band) matter of luck.
Feldwebel etc.
Wachtmeister First Sergeant The German Wehrmacht also had a unique
Beschlagmeister First Sergeant (Cavalry, Artillery, AA, etc.) category of personnel within its ranks, namely
Feuerwerker Farrier First Sergeant the Wehrmachtbeamten, which can be loosely
Brieftaubenmeister Ordnance First Sergeant translated as Armed Forces Civil Servants or as
etc. Pigeon Postmaster Government Service Officials. They were found
etc. in administrative, legal, and technical service
positions. They were civilians performing
functions within the Armed Forces. They were
Billet Group "G" members of the Armed Forces according to the
Non-Commissioned Officer in a "G" Group Law of Land Warfare, but were not “soldiers”
Gruppenführer (Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee) by the German definition. They wore uniforms
identical with those of the Service branch they
Ranks: Ranks:
were serving with, albeit with different insignia.
Unterfeldwebel Staff Sergeant
As officials, their authority extended only to
Unterwachtmeister Staff Sergeant (Cavalry, Artillery, AA, etc.)
their specialty field - unlike soldiers, whose
etc. etc.
authority extends to anyone whom the
Unteroffizier Sergeant
individual outranks. Beamten could not hold
Santitätsunteroffizier Sergeant (Medical Corps)
command. They were entitled to all the customs
etc. etc.
and courtesies associated with their rank/status,
Obergefreiter Corporal
however. Their duties, at least at field and
Santitätsobergefreiter Corporal (Medical Corps
company level, could lead to armed encounters
etc. etc.
with enemy forces, and they were all armed
with pistols.

Billet Group "M" See also:

Other Rank in an "M" Group Military Personnal Job Descriptions
Mannschaft Military Individual Figure Symbols
Ranks: Ranks: Military Personnel Promotions Discussed
Gefreiter Private First Class
Oberschütze Private 2
Oberreiter Trooper First Class
etc. etc.
Schütze Private 1 (infantryman)
Grenadier Private (alternate designation for infantryman)
Jäger Private (Mountain or Light Infantry)
Reiter Trooper (Cavalry)
Kanonier Gunner (Artillery)
Pionier Engineer / Pioneer (Engineers)
Funker Radioman (Signals)
Fahrer Driver (usually of a horse-drawn vehicle)
Kraftfahrer Driver (motor vehicle)
Sanitätssoldat Medic (Medical)
Beschlagschmiedschütze Farrier (horse smith)
Spielman Bandsman / Bugler
etc. etc.