Oberstabsfeldwebel
.svg.png){kind=small}
 (Heer / Luftwaffe) | |||
| |||
| Rank insignia | German NCO rank | ||
| Introduction | 1955 | ||
| Rank group | Non-commissioned officers | ||
| Navy | Oberstabsbootsmann | ||
| Army / Air Force | Oberstabsfeldwebel | ||
| NATO equivalent | OR-9 | ||
| Army | Sergeant Major | ||
| Air Force | Chief Master Sergeant | ||
| Navy | |||
Oberstabsfeldwebel (OStFw or OSF) is the highest Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in German Army and German Air Force. It is grouped as OR9 in NATO, equivalent to a Sergeant Major in the United States Army / Chief Master Sergeant (United States Air Force), and a Warrant Officer Class 1 in the British Army / Warrant officer (Royal Air Force). Attainment of this rank requires at least sixteen years since promotion to feldwebel and at least six years since promotion to hauptfeldwebel[1]
In army/ air force context NCOs of this rank were formally addressed as Herr Oberstabsfeldwebel also informally / short Oberstaber.
The rank was introduced in the German Heer equivalent to the Marine grade Oberstabsbootsmann in 1955, and belongs to the grad group Unteroffiziere mit Portepee.
The sequence of ranks (top-down approach) in that particular group (Senior NCOs with portepee) is as follows:
- OR-9: Oberstabsfeldwebel / Oberstabsbootsmann
- OR-8: Stabsfeldwebel / Stabsbootsmann
- OR-7: Hauptfeldwebel / Hauptbootsmann
- OR-6a: Oberfeldwebel / Oberbootsmann
- OR-6b: Feldwebel / Bootsmann
- Remark
The abbreviation "OR" stands for "Other Ranks / fr: sous-officiers et militaires du rang / ru:другие ранги, кроме офицероф"!
| junior Rank Stabsfeldwebel |
  (German NCO rank)
|
senior Rank Leutnant |
History
The rank has never been used before by the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht as well as in the GDR National People's Army. However, the rank must not be mixed up with the Stabsoberfeldwebel of the German Wehrmacht´s Kriegsmarine, used in the years from 1939 to 1945.
Equivalent in other NATO countries
