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27-397: Oberst is a German word. Spelled with a capital O, " Oberst " is a noun and defines the military rank of colonel or group captain . Spelled with a lower case o, or " oberst ", it is an adjective, meaning "superior, top, topmost, uppermost, highest, chief, head, first, principal, or supreme". Both usages derive from the superlative of ober(e) , "the upper" or "the uppermost". As

54-597: A family name , Oberst is common in the southwest of Germany, in the area known as the Black Forest ( Schwarzwald ). The name is also concentrated in the north-central cantons of Switzerland ( Aargau & Zürich ). Here the Swiss version of Oberst is spelled Obrist . The name first appeared in the thirteenth century in the German-Swiss border area, and early forms were Zoberist and Oberist. The name most likely refers to

81-464: Is equivalent to: On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three silver pips (stars) in silver oak leaves. Oberst was in the so-called armed organs of the GDR ( German : Bewaffnete Organe der DDR ), represented by Ministry of National Defence , and Ministry for State Security , the highest field officer rank, comparable to the colonel in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-5) . This

108-634: Is just the cover, and the core of the standard is in set out in "NATO Codes For Grades Of Military Personnel" (APersP-01). The NATO codes assigned for each grade are based on the agreed corresponding army grades with the naval and air forces grades determined from them by "national regulations". OF-1 – OF-10 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for commissioned officers : OR-1–OR-9 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for other ranks ( enlisted ranks and non-commissioned officers (NCO)): For NATO purposes, NCOs are ranked OR-5 to OR-9. However, national rank structures might differentiate from this. In

135-633: The Royal Air Force . The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence . Group captain is immediately senior to wing commander and immediately below air commodore . It is usually equivalent to the rank of captain in the navy and of the rank of colonel in other services. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force , Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force , Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980)

162-517: The U.S. armed forces warrant officer is a separate and distinct category of officers. This officer rank and precedence is below those of officer personnel, but above that of non-officer personnel, and has a special group of codes ( W-1 – W-5 ). In the Commonwealth tradition (for NATO the British Armed Forces and Canadian Armed Forces ) warrant officers are the highest other ranks. In

189-719: The member nations militaries, as well as for a number of administrative tasks. NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicated correspondence with nations ranks. NATO's standardized reference system is intended to be used "by nations when preparing personnel tables, requisitions, reports and returns destined for NATO nations, organizations and commands." The NATO rank reference code categories were established in 1978 in STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel ). The current- 7th - edition

216-481: The "tribe that lives the highest on the mountain" or "the family that lives the highest in the village". Translated as "superior" or "supreme", the rank of Oberst can trace its origins to the Middle Ages where the term most likely described the senior knight on a battlefield or the senior captain in a regiment. With the emergence of professional armies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an Oberst became

243-902: The APP-06 (related to STANAG 2019) standard lists 11 formation/unit groups (13 in US Armed Forces) and identifies the command level of seven of them: This is a general NATO practice, which does not prevent individual branches of the armed forces, for example, the British Army, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, from having their own approaches to the positions held by certain officers and NCOs. In 2010, Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation produced NATO NCO Bi-SC Strategy and Recommended NCO Guidelines. The current Bi-SC joint document (19 December 2023) Directive 040-002 "NATO Non-Commissioned Officer and Junior Officer Bi-Strategic Command Employment and Development Strategy", describes

270-663: The British Armed Forces senior non-commissioned officers are in OR-5 to OR-7 and junior non-commissioned officers (eg corporals) are in OR-3 and OR-4. In the U.S. military OR-5 and above are non-commissioned officers for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force but in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy (both parts of the Department of the Navy), OR-4 and above are non-commissioned officers. The numbers in

297-741: The German term. Ranked OF-5 within NATO and having the paygrade of M402, it is used in the Royal Danish Army and the Royal Danish Air Force . The rank can be traced back to at least 1563, when Count Günther of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt was named feltøverste ( transl.  Field colonel ) of the Danish troops during the First Northern War . By 1586, Steen Maltesen Sehested  [ da ]

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324-730: The Life Guards. As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed, making oberst the only senior officer . Oberst (short: O ) is the highest staff officer rank in the German Army ( Heer ) and the German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ). The rank is rated OF-5 in NATO , and is grade A16 or B3 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence . It

351-493: The NATO rank indicators for NCOs: Specific roles: Based on the intentions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine to join NATO, NATO codes for military ranks have been officially introduced in these countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a corresponding law in 2005. In Ukraine, the introduction of NATO codes for military ranks took place in two stages. Firstly in 2020, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) amended

378-600: The RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF colonels might be entitled "bannerets" or "leaders". However, the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and as RAF colonels typically commanded groups the rank title group captain was chosen. The rank of group captain was introduced in August 1919 and has been used continuously since then. Although in

405-504: The RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy 's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became group captain would have been "air captain". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that

432-533: The Swiss Army, the Oberst ranks above the lieutenant colonel ("Oberstleutnant") and below the brigadier general ("Brigadier"). In peacetime, it is the fourth highest officer rank. The Oberst is the commander of a Kommando (Gren Kdo, Flpl Kdo), the army engineer staff, or an antiaircraft  (Flab) cluster. These formations are comparable to regiments. As a staff officer, the Oberst performs various specialized functions in

459-470: The commander of regiment or battalion -sized formations. By the eighteenth century, Obersten were typically afforded aides or lieutenants , often titled Oberstleutnant . This led to formation of the modern German rank of the same name, translated as lieutenant colonel . Oberst is the fifth highest rank in the Austrian Armed Forces . The Danish rank of oberst is based around

486-407: The early years of the RAF groups were normally commanded by group captains, by the mid-1920s they were usually commanded by an air officer . In the post-World War II period the commander of an RAF flying station or a major ground training station has typically been a group captain. More recently, expeditionary air wings have also been commanded by group captains. The rank insignia is based on

513-455: The four gold bands of captains in the Royal Navy, comprising four narrow light blue bands over slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. Group captains are the first rank in the RAF hierarchy to wear gold braid on the peak of their cap, informally known as ' scrambled egg '; however, they still wear

540-508: The staffs of the Army, Air Force, and territorial regions. In the brigades, the Oberst (in the general staff - "Oberst i Gst") performs the role of deputy commander and/or chief of staff. In the military justice system, the presidents of the military courts hold the rank of Oberst. Group captain Group captain ( Gp Capt or G/C ) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from

567-421: The standard RAF officer's cap badge. The command pennant for a group captain is similar to the one for a wing commander except that there is one broad red band in the centre. Only the wing commander and group captain command pennants are triangular in shape. Ranks and insignia of NATO A NATO standard grade scale is used by the NATO and its partners for the purpose of comparing military ranks across

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594-544: The structure of military ranks which was followed in January 2021, by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine approving the compliance of military ranks with NATO codes by order though the order had a confidential status. Some European NATO partners such as Austria and Ireland describe their ranks in terms of NATO rank codes for comparison with NATO forces. Finland also had a conversion table to NATO standards prior to becoming

621-464: The system broadly correspond to the U.S. uniformed services pay grades , with OR-x replacing E-x. The main difference is in the commissioned officer ranks, where the US system recognises two ranks at OF-1 level (O-1 and O-2), meaning that all O-x numbers after O-1 are one point higher on the US scale than they are on the NATO scale (e.g. a major is OF-3 on the NATO scale and O-4 on the US scale). Appendix B of

648-669: Was "group officer". The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces , when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian group captains then became colonels . In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was colonel d'aviation . On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army , with Royal Naval Air Service captains and Royal Flying Corps colonels becoming colonels in

675-721: Was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact . Oberst was in the German Reich and Nazi Germany the highest field officer rank, comparable to the OF-5 rank in many NATO-Armed forces. It was equivalent to Kapitän zur See in the Kriegsmarine , and SS-Standartenführer in the Waffen-SS until 1945. ( German officer rank ) Oberst (Kapitän zur See) The rank of oberst

702-589: Was introduced around the same time as Denmark , as Norway at the time was part of Denmark–Norway . The Swedish variant överste , is the most senior field grade military officer rank in the Swedish Army and the Swedish Air Force , immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general . It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the Swedish Navy . In

729-519: Was named Rigets oberst ( transl.  Colonel of the kingdom ). On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by King Christian V , with the publication of the Danish order of precedence . Here there were two types of oberst s. The colonel of the Life Guards placed below major general , and above colonels of the infantry and cavalry, which in turn was placed above the rank lieutenant colonel of

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