Officer (armed forces)

Lieutenants of the Air Force on the Luke Air Force Base (1982)

An officer of the Bundeswehr is a German officer and soldier of the Bundeswehr from the rank of lieutenant to general . He is the leader , instructor and educator of his subordinate soldiers. The officer may disciplinary powers are transferred.

An officer has a rank of the Bundeswehr of the rank groups of lieutenants , captains , staff officers or generals . The career group of officers comprises ten careers : the career of officers in the troop service (OffzTrD), the medical service (OffzSanDst), the military music service , the geographic information service of the Bundeswehr (MilGeoOffz) and the military technical service (OffzMilFD) as well as a career corresponding to these careers for officers the reserve .

Ranks

The ranks of officers in the Bundeswehr are:

Rank group	Ranks
I generals	General ^H&L , Admiral ^M Major General ^{H & L} , generaloberstabsarzt ^{H & L}⁺ , Vizeadmiral ^M , Admiral Oberstabsarzt ^M⁺ Major General ^H&L , General Staff ^{Doctor H&L}⁺ , Rear Admiral ^M , Admiral Staff Doctor ^M⁺ Brigadier General ^H&L , General Doctor ^H&L⁺ , General Pharmacist ^H&L⁺^† , Flotilla Admiral ^M , Admiral Doctor ^M⁺
II staff officers	Colonel ^H&L , Colonel Doctor ^H&L⁺ , Chief Pharmacist ^H&L⁺ , Colonel Veterinarian ^H⁺ , Sea Captain ^M , Fleet Doctor ^M⁺ , Fleet Pharmacist ^M⁺ Lieutenant Colonel ^H&L , Oberfeldarzt ^H&L⁺ , Oberfeldapotheker ^H&L⁺ , Oberfeldveterinär ^H⁺ , Frigattenkapitän ^M , Flotilla doctor ^M⁺ , Flotilla pharmacist ^M⁺ Major ^H&L , Oberstabsarzt ⁺ , Oberstabsapotheker ⁺ , Oberstabsveterinär ^H⁺ , Korvettenkapitän ^M
III captains	Staff captain ^H&L , staff captain lieutenant ^M Hauptmann ^{H & L} , Stabsarzt ⁺ , rod pharmacist ⁺ , rod veterinary ^H⁺ , Kapitänleutnant ^M
IV lieutenant	Oberleutnant ^H&L , Oberleutnant zur See ^M Lieutenant ^H&L , Lieutenant to the Sea ^M
^H only wearers of army uniforms ^H&L only wearers of army or air force uniforms ^M only wearers of naval uniforms ⁺ only medical officers (designation “-arzt” for human including dentists, “-apothecist” for pharmacists, “-veterinary” for veterinarians ) ^† Up to No more soldiers appointed because the budget no longer provides for new promotions . ^{H, H&L, M} If a rank is not indexed with a superscript "H", "H&L" or "M", then the rank can be found in all areas of uniform wear .

First of all, the ranks for army and air force uniform bearers are mentioned, and finally the rank designations for naval uniform bearers . If corresponding ranks are only shown for medical officers , these are named immediately after the "normal" rank designation of the respective uniform wearer area. First, the rank designations for human medicine (also always correspond to those for dentists ), then those for pharmacists and finally those for veterinarians, if applicable. If the rank designations are identical in all uniform bearer areas, a new list for naval uniform bearers is dispensed with.

structure

In addition to the division into the four rank groups, there are further, sometimes only informal, subdivisions of the group of officers.

According to their career or career group and their employment relationship within the meaning of the Soldiers' Career Ordinance and the Central Service Regulation (ZDv) 20/7 , a distinction can be made between:

Troop officers: officers in one of the two careers of troop service (also reserve officers)

Military service officers (often also specialist officers ): former NCOs with and without porters in one of the two careers of the military service (also reserve officers)

Specialist service officers:

Medical officers : Doctors or pharmacists in one of the two careers of the medical service (also reserve officers)
Military music officers : Kapellmeister in one of the two careers of military music service (also reserve officers)
Officers of the geographic information service : officers in one of the two career paths of officers of the geographic information service of the Bundeswehr (also reserve officers)

Reserve officers : officers in one of the five reservist careers available for officers

Professional officers: professional soldiers in an officer rank

The following groups can be distinguished according to their use:

Troop officers: officers who are employed as military leaders “in the troops”. This group is not the same as the group of troop officers within the meaning of the Soldiers' Career Ordinance and ZDv 20/7.
Staff officers: officers with use in a staff department or to another post "away the troops" without the order to drive a classic military organization or corresponding units . In this sense, the staff officer is the opposite of the troop officer. In this sense, this group does not correspond to the rank group of the staff officers of the same name .
- General staff officers: staff officers in the above sense who serve in the general staff service.
Specialist officers: group of officers in the military technical service who do not serve in a similar way to troop officers, but rather in a specialist role.

Powers of command and positions

Three troop officers in Afghanistan, including Major General Markus Kneip

Regardless of their rank , officers can issue orders to soldiers in the rank groups of men , NCOs without porters and NCOs with porters on the basis of § 4 ("Superiors' relationship based on rank") of the Superiors Ordinance within the limits set there .

Officers at all levels of the hierarchy are often superiors of their subordinate soldiers. This is particularly noticeable in the case of the ( partial ) unit commanders, who are provided exclusively by officers from the company commander level. In these positions, they are the superiors of all soldiers under their command, regardless of their rank. Young officers, in rare cases like sergeants with Portepee technical groups , generally forces service trains or as a company operations officer, deck officer or pilots used.

More experienced officers are in command of all larger units , boats and ships , (large) units such as battalions , squadrons , brigades , divisions and corps , educational institutions (for example the schools of the army ) and all command authorities . So you fill positions such as platoon leader , company commander , commander , commanding general , commander , commodore , etc.

Officers (in particular officers of the medical service , geoinformation service and military music service as well as officers of the military technical service and officers with a degree corresponding to the purpose such as lawyers and doctors) are particularly qualified in their respective specialist areas and are accordingly mostly superiors in terms of the superiors ordinance , always superior by rank and mostly superior by rank.

In all higher staff departments of the large associations , sometimes as chief of staff or deputy unit leader, as well as in departments and units of the ministry , the offices , teaching institutions and higher command authorities, officers support their unit leaders in the command of the troops, as well as supervisors and the ministry in processing important technical questions. The general staff officers , who often support the management level of the Bundeswehr directly in particularly important work areas, are of particular importance. Stage managers , the inspectors and the inspector general and their deputies are technically and / or troop service the highest positions that officers can achieve within the Bundeswehr. In addition, senior German officers serve in NATO staffs. Due to the described and similar positions, the vast majority of officers can issue orders to all officially or professionally subordinate soldiers in the cases listed in the Superiors Ordinance. As unit leaders, officers are the disciplinary superiors of the soldiers subordinate to them in accordance with the military disciplinary code .

appointment

The decisive legal basis for the appointment to one of the ranks for officers is the Soldier Career Ordinance (SLV) and, in addition, the Central Service Regulations (ZDv) 20/7. Professional soldiers , temporary soldiers and reservists can be appointed to a corresponding rank . The prerequisite is membership of one of the career paths of the officer’s career group. Direct recruitment with an officer rank is possible with the appropriate suitability (see below ). Most officers have but first in rank Oberfähnrich (mostly reservists differently than Ensign , officers of the military professional service rarely as to staff or Oberstabsfeldwebel served). In this case, the rank can usually be achieved at the earliest 36 months after starting one of the officers' careers. Before being appointed lieutenant, an officer examination must be passed with success. With the appointment of lieutenant, officer candidates become officers. This also applies accordingly to officer candidates in the careers of medical and military music service , who, however, remain medical and military music officer candidates while they belong to the rank group of lieutenants .

According to the Soldiers' Career Ordinance, one of the career paths for officers of the troop service, the medical service and the military music service with an officer rank as the first rank can be set if the applicant has a qualification appropriate to the assignment. In the careers of the geomilitary service, hiring takes place without exception in this way. Applicants must meet the academic and / or practical and / or civil service and / or professional and / or administrative law requirements defined in the Soldiers' Career Ordinance . The hiring grade is linked to the existing qualification and employment; all officer ranks except the rank of first lieutenant are possible recruitment ranks . Applicants must pass an aptitude test.

This also applies to civil servants in the armed forces administration who , as reservists, hold a rank that corresponds to their official title and position in the armed forces administration, as well as doctors and lawyers in their employment as medical officers or military lawyers.

education

Officer 's letter from the Army Officer School

Initially, officer candidates in most careers complete basic training . Further training phases, partly in the form of courses at various training institutions, with a special focus on leadership , as well as attending the (first part of the) officer course complete the first training phase. Since 1973, most officers have been studying at one of the universities of the Bundeswehr ( Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Bundeswehr Hamburg , Universität der Bundeswehr Munich ) or (more rarely) at another university. After graduation, the last parts of the officers' course are usually attended at one of the officers' schools, the officers' examination is passed and, if necessary, a training course specific to the type of service undergoes at one of the Bundeswehr teaching facilities before the young officers are permanently employed in the service for the first time. Officer candidates in the military- technical service who have already sufficiently learned the military skills in their previous career often acquire the technical college entrance qualification and a technical college degree after their career change ; they too are trained at one of the officers' schools for their leadership tasks as officers. Officer candidates of the reserve have often completed the first training sections as active soldiers and take part in the above-described (often shortened, compressed and divided into several sections) courses in the form of military exercises . If soldiers with an officer rank are employed in an officer career (like all officers in the geoinformation service ), the training sections listed above will be "made up" as necessary.

According to the Soldiers' Career Ordinance, training as an officer for officer candidates for one of the career paths of troop service and military technical service ends formally with the appointment as an officer and with the passing of an officer examination. It should be noted, however, that these young officers in the careers of troop service and geomilitary service often do the last part of their studies and the last necessary courses at one of the officers' schools before they go to the rank of lieutenant, sometimes only as first lieutenant serve the force. For medical officer cadets and military music officer candidate training ends, even though they had officers with the appointment to lieutenant, with her approval (for pharmacists in addition to the state examination as a food chemist ) or the conductor exams and their appointment in one of the ranks medical officer , staff pharmacists , staff veterinarian or . Captain .

When they are employed as officers, further courses are regularly added to provide officers with the basic knowledge they need to fill a new position at a higher hierarchical level or to adapt to changing technical, social, mission-specific, medical, etc. framework conditions. For almost all staff officers , the staff officer course at the command academy of the Bundeswehr is the most important course for further promotion. Particularly capable officers complete the general / admiralty staff training course there , which makes it more likely that they will later be employed as general staff officers and be appointed general .

Rank badge

Examples of different slip- on loops for officers

Officers can be recognized by their rank badges. All officers in army and air force uniforms have one to four stars on their shoulder badges, unlike those who wear naval uniforms . Officers in naval uniforms show one to four sleeve stripes and a five-pointed star on both lower sleeves . It should be noted, however, that senior middlemen at sea also wear rank badges of this system and could therefore easily be confused with officers, while the rank badges of the other NCOs and crews look significantly different in the naval version.

NATO rank code

Officers are classified with the NATO rank code OF-1 to OF-9 (OF for English " OF ficer"). In all NATO armies there are ranks, which are very similar to the German system of ranks, which are designated as officer ranks and are therefore comparable with German officers. In some armies there are top ranks for officers that have no equivalent in the Bundeswehr. Overall, however, measured by the NATO rank code, it can be seen that many armies organize their ranks in a similar way to the Bundeswehr and also have an officer corps.

Officer corps

The entirety of the officers of the Bundeswehr is, in a broad sense, also referred to as the officer corps. In the narrower sense, the officers at the association level form an officer corps. Often there is a regular lunch (mostly weekly) and officers' sport as well as, mostly quarterly, an "official social event" with or without a partner .

An officer corps contributes to the corps spirit and professional ethos of the officer's profession and promotes the holistic management concept of the Bundeswehr, which is shown, for example, in the training of staff officers and officers in the general staff service together .

literature

Detlef Bald : The German officer. Social and educational history of the German officer corps in the 20th century . Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-5400-8 .
Eberhard Birk , Peter Andreas Popp (Eds.): LwOffz21. The self-image of the Air Force officer at the beginning of the 21st century (= writings on the history of the German Air Force . Vol. 5). Hartmann, Miles-Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-945861-32-5 .
Ursula Breymayer, Bernd Ulrich, Karin Wieland (eds.): Willensmenschen. About German officers . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-14438-8 .
Detlef Buch : Career career officer? On the change and stagnation of a job in postmodernism . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-631-59658-6 .
Rolf Elble : From the future German officer. Current thoughts on the officer profession . Verlag WEU / Offene Zeiten Verlag, Bonn 1957.
Nina Leonhard : Integration and Memory. NVA officers in reunified Germany . UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz u. a. 2016, ISBN 978-3-86764-648-2 .
Rainer Marr (Ed.): Bundeswehr training center? From officer to manager. Career prospects for graduates from the universities of the Bundeswehr in business and administration . 2nd edition, Edition Gfw, Neubiberg 2002, ISBN 3-9807539-4-8 .
Ingrid Welcker, Fritz F. Zelinka: Qualification as an officer? A content analysis of the recruitment requirements for officers from the Imperial Army to the Bundeswehr (= European University Papers, Volume 31). Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-8204-5768-2 .

Web links

Officers - executives of the Bundeswehr

Careers in the army

Officer career Luftwaffe - the military manager

Career as a naval officer

Remarks

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Note: All soldiers in the Bundeswehr are in uniform , cf. Training as reserve officer candidate in military service. Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr (BAPersBw) - The President., March 13, 2014, accessed on March 26, 2014 .

↑ ^a ^b ZDv 20/7 on the basis of § 44 of the Soldiers ' Career Ordinance ( TitelErg = Ordinance on the Careers of Soldiers (Soldiers' Career Ordinance - SLV) . March 19, 2002, § 44 ( online [accessed on March 25, 2014] Neugefasst by Bek . of August 19, 2011 I 1813. Last amended by Art. 2, Paragraph 5 G of April 8, 2013 I 730). )

↑ The deadline can be shortened by up to two years, as periods of service in the Bundeswehr before starting officer training (i.e. in other career groups) can be credited to a limited extent. Significantly shorter periods are attached to the minimum period of service of the reserve officer candidates, at least partly in military exercises, than for other officer candidates. Reservists are, however, treated on an equal footing with active soldiers insofar as the appointment of an officer cannot be made earlier than with corresponding active officer candidates.

↑ ^a ^b The prospective doctor or pharmacist with the rank of lieutenant is no longer an officer candidate , but is an officer in the medical service . Nonetheless, he remains a medical officer candidate and will only become a medical officer when he is promoted to a rank group of captains. The same applies to military music officer candidates in the rank of lieutenant and first lieutenant who only become a military music officer after passing the Kapellmeister examination and being appointed captain.

↑ z. B. a university degree

↑ a defined period of time in a civilian profession corresponding to the planned use

↑ z. B. the admission to the higher service of the federal government or the appointment as official veterinarian

↑ z. B. an air traffic controller license valid under German law or the medical license

↑ z. B. the qualification for judicial office

↑ In some disciplines, especially in medicine , pharmacy , geosciences and musicology , studying at a civil university is the rule.

↑ ^a ^b teams have diagonal stripes ; NCOs borders and / or angles (except for senior midshipmen at sea ).

↑ In ZDv 37/10, in addition to the form of sleeve badges described in the Federal President's order on the rank designations and the uniform of the soldiers, corresponding (i.e. identically designed) shoulder badges for naval uniform wearers are also described.

Individual evidence

↑ Federal Ministry of Defense , BMVg P II 5 (Ed.): A-1420/24. Central service regulation. Ranks and rank groups . January 19, 2006 ( PDF ).
↑ ^a ^b Art. 1 Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and uniforms of soldiers
↑ ^a ^b The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, change status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, rank designations in the Bundeswehr, p. B 185 (Not to be confused with the Law on the Legal Status of Soldiers (Soldiers Law) ).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ordinance on the Careers of Soldiers (Soldiers' Career Ordinance - SLV) . March 19, 2002 ( online [accessed on March 25, 2014] revised by notice of August 19, 2011 I 1813. Last amended by Art. 2 Par. 5 G of April 8, 2013 I 730).
↑ Note also: Annex (to § 3). Allocation of the career paths of the soldiers to the career groups of the men and women, the NCOs and the officers
↑ ^a ^b The Federal Minister of Defense ; Personnel, Social and Central Affairs Department (Ed.): ZDv 20/7. Provisions for the transport and for the recruitment, acceptance and admission of soldiers . Bonn March 27, 2002, Art. 635 ( PDF ( memento of October 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on March 26, 2014] DSK AP210100187, reprint January 2008).
↑ ^a ^b The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, amendment status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, The Superiors Ordinance, p. A 12 1 (Not to be confused with the Ordinance on the Regulation of Military Superiors (Superiors Ordinance - VorgV) ).
↑ ^a ^b Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): Ordinance on the regulation of the military superior relationship (Superior Ordinance - VorgV) . June 4, 1956 ( online [accessed on March 25, 2014] last amended by Art. 1 No. 2 V of October 7, 1981 I 1129).
^ Military disciplinary code (WDO). ( Hypertext Markup Language ) In: Laws on the Internet . Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection , August 16, 2001, accessed on November 5, 2014 (from August 16, 2001 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2093 ), last amended by Article 7 of the Act of August 28, 2013 ( Federal Law Gazette I p . 3386 ) has been changed).
↑ Der Bundespräsident (Ed.): Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and the uniform of the soldiers . BPresUnifAnO. July 14, 1978 ( gesetze-im-internet.de [PDF] Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and uniforms of soldiers from July 14, 1978 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1067 ), last amended by Article 1 of the order of 31. May 1996 ( BGBl. I p. 746 ) has been changed).
↑ Hartmut Bagger , Command Staff of the Armed Forces I 3, Federal Ministry of Defense (ed.): ZDv 37/10. Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr . July 1996. Reprint from October 2008. Bonn July 16, 2008, 4 labels, p. 539 ( digitized version ( memento from September 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.5 MB ] Reprint October 2008 replaces first edition from July 1996). In 2018, adopted in a new series of regulations as: Central regulation A1-2630 / 0-9804 - Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr.
^ Agreed English texts. STANAG 2116 . NATO standardization agreement (STANAG) . NATO codes for grades of military personnel. 5th edition. 1992 (English, NATO Rank Codes - 1992 [accessed March 25, 2014]).

[UNIFORMTRÄGER-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Note: All soldiers in the Bundeswehr are in uniform , cf. Training as reserve officer candidate in military service. Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr (BAPersBw) - The President., March 13, 2014, accessed on March 26, 2014 .

[A-1420/24-1] Federal Ministry of Defense , BMVg P II 5 (Ed.): A-1420/24. Central service regulation. Ranks and rank groups . January 19, 2006 ( PDF ).

[BPräsUnifAnOArt1-2] Art. 1 Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and uniforms of soldiers

[SG-3] The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, change status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, rank designations in the Bundeswehr, p. B 185 (Not to be confused with the Law on the Legal Status of Soldiers (Soldiers Law) ).

[SLV-5] Ordinance on the Careers of Soldiers (Soldiers' Career Ordinance - SLV) . March 19, 2002 ( online [accessed on March 25, 2014] revised by notice of August 19, 2011 I 1813. Last amended by Art. 2 Par. 5 G of April 8, 2013 I 730).

[Anlage-6] Note also: Annex (to § 3). Allocation of the career paths of the soldiers to the career groups of the men and women, the NCOs and the officers

[20/7-7] The Federal Minister of Defense ; Personnel, Social and Central Affairs Department (Ed.): ZDv 20/7. Provisions for the transport and for the recruitment, acceptance and admission of soldiers . Bonn March 27, 2002, Art. 635 ( PDF ( memento of October 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on March 26, 2014] DSK AP210100187, reprint January 2008).

[SGA12-9] The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, amendment status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, The Superiors Ordinance, p. A 12 1 (Not to be confused with the Ordinance on the Regulation of Military Superiors (Superiors Ordinance - VorgV) ).

[VorgV-10] Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): Ordinance on the regulation of the military superior relationship (Superior Ordinance - VorgV) . June 4, 1956 ( online [accessed on March 25, 2014] last amended by Art. 1 No. 2 V of October 7, 1981 I 1129).

[11] Military disciplinary code (WDO). ( Hypertext Markup Language ) In: Laws on the Internet . Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection , August 16, 2001, accessed on November 5, 2014 (from August 16, 2001 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2093 ), last amended by Article 7 of the Act of August 28, 2013 ( Federal Law Gazette I p . 3386 ) has been changed).

[BPräsUnifAnO-22] Der Bundespräsident (Ed.): Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and the uniform of the soldiers . BPresUnifAnO. July 14, 1978 ( gesetze-im-internet.de [PDF] Order of the Federal President on the rank designations and uniforms of soldiers from July 14, 1978 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1067 ), last amended by Article 1 of the order of 31. May 1996 ( BGBl. I p. 746 ) has been changed).

[ZDV2008-23] Hartmut Bagger , Command Staff of the Armed Forces I 3, Federal Ministry of Defense (ed.): ZDv 37/10. Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr . July 1996. Reprint from October 2008. Bonn July 16, 2008, 4 labels, p. 539 ( digitized version ( memento from September 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.5 MB ] Reprint October 2008 replaces first edition from July 1996). In 2018, adopted in a new series of regulations as: Central regulation A1-2630 / 0-9804 - Suit regulations for soldiers in the Bundeswehr.

[STANAG-24] Agreed English texts. STANAG 2116 . NATO standardization agreement (STANAG) . NATO codes for grades of military personnel. 5th edition. 1992 (English, NATO Rank Codes - 1992 [accessed March 25, 2014]).