- Sturmscharführer
"Sturmscharführer" was a Nazi rank of the
Waffen-SS that existed between1934 and1945 . The rank was the most senior enlisted rank in the Waffen-SS, the equivalent of aSergeant Major in other military organizations. Sturmscharführer was unique to the Waffen-SS and was not used in the regular SS (theAllgemeine-SS ), where the highest enlisted rank was "Hauptscharführer ".The rank of Sturmscharführer was first created in June 1934, after the
Night of the Long Knives . Due to a reorganization of the SS, Sturmscharführer was created as the most senior enlisted rank of theSS-Verfügungstruppe , replacing the older "Sturmabteilung " title of "Haupttruppführer ".By
1941 , the Waffen-SS had become the successor organization to the SS-Verfügungstruppe and Sturmscharführer was established as the most senior enlisted rank. A Sturmscharführer was typically assigned as the head sergeant of an entire regiment or, in some cases, an infantry division.Sturmscharführer was not the same as "
Stabsscharführer ", which was a positional title given to the head SS-NCO of a company. The rank of Sturmscharführer was also not a prerequisite for promotion to "Untersturmführer " and was generally considered as a rank for “career” enlisted SS soldiers, rather than a rank on the path to becoming an officer.The insignia for Sturmscharführer was two silver pips and two silver stripes worn on a collar patch along with the shoulder boards of a
Wehrmacht "Stabsfeldwebel". As was the case with Waffen-SS enlisted insignia, the collar patch of a Sturmscharführer was worn with silver piping.
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