Company sergeant
The company sergeant ( KpFw ; colloquially "spit" ; "mother of the company" ) is a service in the Bundeswehr . In a unit ( company or comparable) he is the leader of the corps of non-commissioned officers and heads the office. The company sergeant is / was designated for the artillery troops and the former Army Air Defense Force Batteriefeldwebel ( BttrFw ), for training areas Inspection Sergeant ( InFw ), for the Air Force (except for training companies) and the Army Aviation Force Staffelfeldwebel ( StffFw ) and in the Navy ship / squadron sergeant . The service position is carried out by the post holder of the company sergeant, in his absence by his representative in office.
Tasks and position
The company sergeant advises his disciplinary superior on issues relating to back office work, manages the back office and business operations on behalf of his disciplinary superior. The back office is a collective term for repetitive processes, services and measures that are essential for an orderly coexistence in the military community of the unit. The Kompaniefeldwebel mediates between the soldiers of the unit and the disciplinary superior and is its most important employees in the performance of his duties in the office, plays a decisive role in the education and training of officers with and without Portepee and the teams of the principles of and in implementing internal leadership in Area of the unit and creates the essential prerequisites as well as takes the necessary follow-up measures to support the unit during operations.
As a caring advisor and central point of contact for all soldiers and civilian employees of his unit, the company sergeant has a key function in shaping the military community. He has a decisive influence on the togetherness in this, on the tone and the climate in the unit. The company sergeant is, regardless of the rank structure, at the head of the corps of the unit, whose cohesion he promotes, and should set an example through character, ability and fulfillment of duties. He is a superior with a special area of responsibility according to § 3 of the Superiors Ordinance (VorgV) vis-à-vis all NCOs and teams in the unit. The company sergeant, on behalf of the disciplinary superior, approves and monitors a fair and balanced allocation of soldiers to special services and regulates the occupancy of the rooms. He draws up a cleaning plan for the areas of the shared accommodation. In detail, the duties of the company sergeant are to be ordered in a service instruction.
The company sergeant also supports the unit leader in the areas of personnel and catering (request, collection and delivery). He heads the office (GeschZi, GeZi) of the unit and is the immediate superior within his sub-unit (company sergeant troop) in accordance with Section 1 of the Superiors Ordinance .
The service post of the company sergeant is usually endowed for sergeant major or master boatman, at training institutions regularly lower.
Labelling
Company sergeants or soldiers in a comparable position wear the "shoulder cord 'company sergeant" ". It is a braided golden yellow cord that is worn decapitated under the right epaulette. It is only worn in service and also by representatives in office. The jacket with the formal suit is worn without a shoulder cord.
Kompaniefeldwebeln is awarded after six months, five years and ten years in professional use the joint military service badge company sergeant, ship / squadron sergeant in the levels of bronze, silver or gold. It is a circle with an iron cross, set in four stripes on both sides, embossed with metal, bronze, silver or gold colored.
Formal service
The company sergeant stands on the extreme left in the case of formation formations, and as the last man behind on the right in the case of marching formations. In closed formations, like the military leaders, he greets by putting his hand on his headgear. In parade constellations he carries a pistol with portepee like the officers and officers assigned as platoon leaders .
Job allowance
Company sergeants (also representatives in office) receive a position allowance according to No. 4a of the preliminary remarks to Appendix I of the Federal Salary Act ( BBesG ). According to Annex IX to the BBesG, it has been 135.00 euros since March 1, 2020 and before 112.74 euros. The job allowance is not pensionable.
history
The equivalent in Wehrmacht and National People's Army was the sergeant major , in the Austrian army , it is the service leader Sergeant (DfUO), in the Swiss army the main sergeant .
The soldier of the old imperial army sergeant called the "spit" after Polearm which this resulted in the line, and down made with these soldiers who threw towel to desertion to commit. He therefore marched in the line to the left or behind the line, in contrast to the officers who marched ahead and to the right of the line and led and commanded it. The term was later derived in the other German armies from the long officer's sword, which he wore and which was also called "spit" in the soldier's mouth. The vice sergeant who carried the same weapon was the "vice spear". Today only the company sergeant is called "Spieß". The name of the company sergeant has nothing to do with the spear of the mercenaries. It is not known why the name of a polearm was added to the sword.
With the development of a fixed rank system (18th century), the "Spieß" received the rank "Feldwe (i) bel" . Until the First World War , the " regular sergeant " (short: the "budgetary") was the highest rank of non-commissioned officer in the German army. As early as 1889, the "budget-like" braid on the cuff of the tunic had a second, slightly narrower braid to distinguish it from the deputy sergeant .
His counterpart in the Austrian Austro-Hungarian Army was the " serving sergeant". His duties included strict supervision and control of the teams.
Reichswehr
It was only in the Reichswehr that the requirement profile of the spit changed. He was now also given tasks that can be subsumed under the heading of promoting military comradeship. The rank of sergeant major was added . The position was designated as the sergeant major of the troops .
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht continued the previous tradition, with administrative tasks for the spit still in the foreground - the area of responsibility ranged from the mail supply to the soldiers to personnel matters and catering organization as well as the supply of sutler goods . Here the spit was given the title of Hauptfeldwebel (not to be confused with the later rank of Hauptfeldwebel in the Bundeswehr). As a rule, senior Portepee NCOs with the rank of sergeant major and who had completed platoon driver training held this post.
The service badges known as “piston rings” - two parallel, 9 mm wide, silver-colored NCO's stripes above both sleeve cuffs on the uniform jacket and uniform coat - were introduced on July 17, 1922.
Armed SS
In the Waffen-SS , the "spit" had the service designation SS-Stabsscharführer . As a rule, SS-Hauptscharführer (OR-7) or experienced SS-Oberscharführer (OR-6) were deployed here. As in the Wehrmacht, the hallmarks were two 9 mm wide, silver-colored NCO braids sewn in parallel, the "piston rings", above both cuffs on the uniform jacket and uniform coat.
Order police
The equivalent of the Hauptfeldwebel (Spieß) of the Wehrmacht and SS-Stabsscharführer (Spieß) of the Waffen-SS was the managing chief sergeant in closed police formations (e.g. training battalions , police hundreds). Here, since 1939 , two "piston rings" made of silver-colored sergeant braid have served as a status symbol for the spear over both cuffs, similar to the main sergeants of the Wehrmacht . The provision was extended to the main sergeant's service door in 1940 .
National Peoples Army
In the National People's Army of the GDR had the spit , even inside sales manager , also as in the German army , the official position designation Sergeant . The equivalent job title in the People's Navy was captain .
Instead of double, simple piston rings on both lower sleeves of the uniform jacket and coat were worn as a mark of distinction . Professional NCOs of the respective unit, later also ensigns , were deployed as chief sergeants / chief boatswain .
Austrian Armed Forces
In the armed forces , the duty officer (DfUO), also called “spit” or “mother of the company” in soldier jargon like the German company sergeant, is the head of the internal service of a unit. ( Company , battery , Relay ) and traditionally the most senior NCO his unit. He cannot be compared with the UvD ( NCO ) of the Bundeswehr. As the head of the supply group (VersGrp), he reports directly to the company or unit commander (KpKdt or EinhKdt), he reports to the commercial sergeant (WiUO), the chancellery sergeant (KzlUO), the supply sergeant (NUO) and the motor sergeant (KUO) with theirs Assistants. Within the unit, he / she takes on the tasks of the basic management areas 1 and 4 (personnel or supply) and is responsible for their internal functioning.
This must be distinguished from the command group commander (KdoGrpKdt), also a senior non-commissioned officer who advises and supports the unit commander in questions of the situation, operational management and training (analogous to basic command area 3).
International
In many armed forces there are service positions comparable to the company sergeant not only at the unit level, but also up to the highest level of the armed forces. So there is in the US armed forces , the senior enlisted advisor as the highest service positions of officers, some with their own rank.
literature
- Walter Transfeldt, Karl-Hermann von Brand, Otto Quenstedt: Word and Custom in the German Army. Historical and linguistic considerations about customs, terms and designations of the German army in the past and present . 6th increased edition. Helmut Gerhard Schulz, Hamburg 1967, p. 43 / § 59 “Spit” .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Central Directive A2-2630 / 0-0-2, Version 2. (PDF) In: Bundeswehr. Inner Guidance Center , October 18, 2016, accessed on March 25, 2020 (includes sample service instructions for the KpFw).
- ↑ a b Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr. (PDF) In: https://www.reservisten.bundeswehr.de/ . Inner Guidance Center , October 1, 2019, accessed on March 25, 2020 (Chapters 2.5, 4.2.6, 5.10.4).
- ↑ Central Directive A2-221 / 0-0-1280, Version 1 - Formal Service Regulations. In: https://www.reservistenverband.de/ . Office for Army Development , January 1, 2015, accessed on March 25, 2020 .
- ^ Words and Customs in the German Army, Transfeldt - v. Brand - Quenstedt, 6th increased edition, Hamburg 11 HG Schulz 1967, p. 43 (§ 59) ... spit
- ↑ Military Lexicon, 2nd ed. 1973, L-No .: 5, ES-No .: 6C1, BstNr: 745.303.1, plate 58… sleeve stripes Hauptfeldwebel
