Sergeant Candidate Battalion

Association badge of the FA / UA-Btl superordinate NCO School of the Army

The Sergeant Candidate Battalions (FA / UA-Btl) of the German Armed Forces in Sondershausen (FA / UA-Btl 1), Celle (FA / UA-Btl 2) and Altenstadt (FA / UA-Btl 3) are the three training associations for NCOs - and sergeant in the army . Since January 2014, the basic training of junior sergeants and sergeants in the army has largely been carried out with these three battalions.

The exception is the paratrooper troops , which continue to train their offspring in the special training company 209 in Pfullendorf as part of the command sergeant candidate program . Also an exception to a certain extent is the Feldjägertruppe , which does not belong to the army, but to the base of the armed forces , but which are sometimes subordinate to those who wear army uniforms. These are trained at the school for military police and staff service in Hanover.

The battalions were set up on July 1, 2013. They were put into service (with the troop flags being awarded ) in December 2013.

Structure / subordination

The Sergeant Candidate Battalions belong to the organizational area of the Army Training Command and were affiliated with one of the Army schools or one of the Army centers when they were set up .

In detail:

The FA / UA-Btl 1 the training center Munster , training area Armed Forces Joint Tactical Fire Support / Indirect Fire (Trainer STF / IndirF).

The FA / UA-Btl 2 to the training center Munster , training area Army Reconnaissance Troops (training center MUNSTER, training center H AufklTr).

The FA / UA-Btl 3 to the Pioneers Training Center (AnbZPi)

Since July 1, 2016, the FA / UA-Btl have been directly subordinate to the Army NCO School .

The structure of the battalions , which differs from the usual structure of the battalions in the army, was based on the officer candidate battalions (OA-Btl), which were set up as part of the restructuring of officer training in 2006. The battalion command group is at the head of the FA / UA-Btl. This consists of the battalion commander in the rank of lieutenant colonel and the staff departments S1 (personnel), S2 (military intelligence), S3 (planning / organization / training) and S4 (logistics).

Two companies report to the commander . Each of the companies is led by a company commander with the rank of major , who is subordinate to a company command group and up to five platoons each .

In contrast to conventional companies in the army, in which only the first of two or three platoons or the first two of four platoons are led by an officer , in the FA / UA-Btl all platoon leaders are officers, mostly in the rank of first lieutenant . The first platoon is usually led by a captain who is also the deputy company commander.

The companies are also subordinate to station sergeants in the rank of sergeant major , who are sometimes assigned to the individual platoons and act there as deputy platoon leaders. Each platoon leader is also subordinate to four groups , which are led by NCOs with sergeant rank and one platoon soldier with crew rank each .

Uniform and badge

The soldiers of the Sergeant Candidate Battalions wear the uniforms of the Army of the German Armed Forces according to the Central Service Regulations (ZDv) 37/10. They uniformly wear the navy blue beret with the beret badge of their respective military type. They only receive the beret in the prescribed color from the beginning of their military-specific training. Members of the mountain troop wear the navy blue beret with the beret badge of the hunter's troop . On the left upper arm of the service suit, the soldiers wear the badge of the service unit superordinate to the respective battalion. It always shows two crossed swords as a symbol for the army on a red background, as well as an "S" as a symbol for a military school. With the exception of the "S" in its basic form it corresponds to the coat of arms of the Army Office. The badge is outlined according to the weapon color of the troop type that corresponds to the respective school.

The internal association badges of the battalions themselves are worn in the form of a chest tag on the right breast pocket of the service suit or as a patch with Velcro on the right upper arm of the field suit: