Appendix B: SS Ranks

The SS ranks and their approximate U.S. Army equivalents are as follows:

Table 12: SS ranks and their approximate U.S. Army equivalents
U.S. Army | SS
Private | SS Mann
Private First Class | Sturmmann
Corporal | Rottenführer
Sergeant | Unterscharführer
Staff Sergeant | Scharführer
Technical Sergeant | Oberscharführer
Master Sergeant | Hauptscharführer
First Sergeant | Sturmscharführer
Second Lieutenant | Untersturmführer
First Lieutenant | Obersturmführer
Captain | Hauptsturmführer
Major | Sturmbannführer
Lieutenant Colonel | Obersturmbannführer
Colonel | Standartenführer
Colonel | Oberführer
Brigadier General | Brigadeführer
Lieutenant General | Gruppenführer
General | Obergruppenführer
General of the Army | Oberstgruppenführer

One can exercise a certain amount of choice on this subject. The three grades of Gruppenführer are sometimes equated with Major General, Lieutenant General and General, respectively. An Oberführer is sometimes described as a "Senior Colonel" or a Brigadier General; in the latter case a Brigadeführer is equated with a Major General.

These ranks had their origin in the early days when the SS was something of an offshoot of the SA, which had similar ranks.

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