Obergefreiter

*Obergefreiter*
Obergefreiter;
	Hauptgefreiter
Next lower rank	Gefreiter

Obergefreiter (abbr. OGefr.) is an enlisted rank of the German and Swiss militaries which dates from the 19th century.

In today's

seaman first class in most forces or, e.g., lance corporal in the Australian/New Zealand Forces. Like all enlisted personnel in the German Bundeswehr, soldiers of this rank have no military authority over lower ranking enlisted personnel (for instance Schütze or Gefreiter), except given by a higher rank.^{[clarification needed}

]

In the Bundeswehr the lower rank is

Hauptgefreiter. The lower rank in the Swiss Army is also Gefreiter, the next rank is Korporal

.

History

The rank was only used in the German army's heavy artillery branch (Fußartillerie) before 1919 and commonly established with the founding of the Reichswehr. Translated as "senior lance-corporal", in World War II the rank was normally given to soldiers who had command over small squads or to those soldiers who held the rank of Gefreiter and below. Soldiers that had performed a significant feat of achievement were given this title. An Obergefreiter was considered an Enlisted Man in the German Wehrmacht, equivalent to the Schutzstaffel's Sturmmann.

A somewhat large portion of the German Army in the Second World War consisted of enlisted men, especially during the later years of the war with conscription laws being increased to fight off the advancing Soviet Army. Of the 13 million soldiers in Germany's fighting force, 7.5 million were enlisted men, with 2.2 million of the enlisted men being Obergefreiters.

Final ranks to enlisted men until 1945
v
t
e
Waffen-SS	Heer (Army)	Luftwaffe (Air Force)	Kriegsmarine (Navy)
SS-Schütze	Schütze	Flieger	Matrose
SS-Oberschütze	Oberschütze	Flieger	Matrose
SS-Sturmmann	Gefreiter		Matrosengefreiter
SS-Rottenführer	Obergefreiter		Matrosenobergefreiter
No equivalent		Hauptgefreiter	Matrosenhauptgefreiter
No equivalent	Stabsgefreiter		Matrosenstabsgefreiter
No equivalent			Matrosenoberstabsgefreiter

Swiss Armed Forces

In the

the rank of Obergefreiter

(short: Obgfr) was introduced after a long debate on 1 January 2004. They are specialists, who take over tasks of responsibility or hold the position of a group commander.

References

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