Oberstabsbootsmann

Oberstabsbootsmann
shoulder board / cuff title / mounting loop
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	Sergeant Major Master Gunnery Sergeant

Oberstabsbootsmann^[1] (OStBtsm or OSB) is the highest Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in the German Navy. It is grouped as OR9 in NATO, equivalent to a Master Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy, and a Warrant Officer Class 1 in the British Royal Navy.

In Navy context, NCOs of this rank were formally addressed as Herr/ Frau Oberstabsbootsmann also informally/ short Oberstaber.

The rank was introduced in the German Navy equivalent to the German Heer and German Luftwaffe grad Oberstabsfeldwebel in 1995, and belongs to the grad group Unteroffiziere mit Portepee.

The sequence of ranks (top-down approach) in that particular group is as follows:
Unteroffiziere mit Portepee

• OR-9: Oberstabsbootsmann / Oberstabsfeldwebel
• OR-8: Stabsbootsmann / Stabsfeldwebel
• OR-7: Hauptbootsmann / Hauptfeldwebel
• OR-6a: Oberbootsmann / Oberfeldwebel
• OR-6b: Bootsmann / Feldwebel

Remark

The abbreviation "OR" stands for "Other Ranks / fr: sous-officiers et militaires du rang / ru:другие ранги, кроме офицероф"!

junior Rank Stabsbootsmann

(German NCO rank) Oberstgabsbootsmann

senior Rank Leutnant zur See

See also