Wikipedia
bgcolor="#efefef" colspan=2 align="center"|Feldwebel
(Heer / Luftwaffe) |-----
align="center" colspan=2 style="border-bottom:2px solid gray;font-size:smaller" |
HD H 31 Feldwebel Art.svg
LD B 31 Feldwebel.svg
|-----
Rank insignia
German NCO rank |-----
Introduction
1957 |-----
Rank group
Non-commissioned officers |-----
Army / Air Force
Feldwebel |-----
Navy
Bootsmann |-----
NATOequivalent
OR-6 |-----
US
- Army: Staff Sergeant
- AF: Technical Sergeant
|-----
UK
- Army: Sergeant
- Air Force: Sergeant
|-----
'''Feldwebel '' (Fw' or F), literally "field usher", is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, but it is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria.
Feldwebel is a contraction of feld meaning "field" and weibel meaning "usher". Weibel comes from the Old High German weibôn, meaning to go back and forth.
There are variations on feldwebel, such as Oberstabsfeldwebel ("Superior Staff Field Usher"), which is the highest non-commissioned rank in the German army and air force.