German Army Decorations Trivia Quiz

Answer: The soldier is an NCO candidate

German military careers are separated into officers', senior NCO, NCO and enlisted careers. Cadet / training ranks use the ranks, insignia and pay grades of lower careers, with an additional symbol to designate career: Officer trainees wear a silver cord at the bottom of their rank insignia, senior NCO ones a bronze-golden one and those for junior NCO ranks have the horizontal bar.

A Hauptgefreiter with the NCO candidate bar is a relatively rare sight as the first NCO rank is usually reached after 12 months, the same time it takes to reach Haupfgefreiter, so this combination would typically only be seen on a soldier who started a basic enlisted career at first and upgraded to NCO later. Enlisted ranks go up to Oberstabsgefreiter, wearing five bars.

Answer: It is composed of three senior sergeant's chevrons

The "Kopfwinkel" (literally translating as "headed chevron") is the insignia of the third senior NCO rank Hauptfeldwebel. The first two of these, Feldwebel and Oberfeldwebel, have one and two chevrons respectively. As these ranks have five levels, the higher numbers would not fit the epaulette, so instead of three chevrons, this symbol (essentially combined three chevrons with the middle one turned upside down) is used instead. It does not have any runic origin. Even with this symbol, the five-chevron rank of Oberstabsfeldwebel barely fits the available space.

The rank (named Oberfähnrich) is rarely seen in the field - the vast majority of holders are spending the six months during which it is held at university.

Answer: Pharmacy

The German army knows four medical branches - regular medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. They use different renditions of Aesculap's snake: the basic one is double-wound around a staff, the dentists' version is single-wound around a staff, the pharmacists' is double-wound with a bowl beneath and the veterinarians' is just double-wound with no additional item. The one-star general rank is the highest possible for a pharmacist. Veterinarians are limited to colonel while doctors and dentists can theoretically reach three-star general rank (although it would be nearly impossible for a dentist to progress to this level reserved for the head of the Bundeswehr's medical service).

The medical service also has another quirk in the rank order: the rank of second lieutenant is actually considered an officer candidate rank in this branch and the first actual officer rank is Stabsarzt (equivalent to a captain and receiving a major's pay).

Answer: Marksmanship

Dating back to the 19th century, the German marksmanship emblem has traditionally been given the form of a shoulder cord. In today's practice, it is awarded in three levels; bronze, silver and gold, differing only in the metal plaque. The cord itself is always silver. A soldier wishing to earn one must meet a specific performance standard with their main light weapon (rifle, pistol or machine pistol) and a heavy weapon (machine gun or bazooka) of their choice. The gold level can be repeated once per year, with every fifth award being represented on the plaque as an embossed number.

Officers, usually supposed not to enter infantry combat but rather shoot only in self-defence, are not allowed to wear this award. However they can still complete the needed exercises and be handed the insignia upon request.

Answer: A theoretical exam

Apart from the mentioned, the soldier must also demonstrate at least satisfactory general performance and conduct and basic proficiency in first aid, swimming and NBC protection. The marching requirement has been significantly reduced since my active service - today, the requirements are 6, 9 or 12 kilometers depending on level while during my active days, we had to go 20, 25 or 30 respectively (at the same minimum average speed - 6 kph). Marches have to be done in regular combat uniform while carrying 15 kg of gear.

Answer: The beret

Beret insignia are usually worn in the tarnished silver color seen on the bottom right. The one exception is that for light infantry which is golden as seen on top (the shown version is a vintage one, today's variant has the flag in the same place as all the others).

The embroidered version shown at the bottom left is an optional variant for officers, which they can procure at their own cost. It is significantly more comfortable than the metal one, especially when you are indoor and thus have to carry your beret in the right leg pocket.

Answer: Brigade level or equivalent

If you answered division, you're only almost correct - the actual designs on the field represent a division or equivalent grouping, but the border color narrows this down to brigade level - white shows the first brigade of a division, red the second and yellow the third. The silver/black border is used by battalions and companies directly attached to a division without an intervening brigade. The top right design is a quite special one - it is an independent brigade, namely the join French/German brigade.

Apart from the designs for the 14 divisions and associated brigades, several dozen designs exist for high commands and special units.

Battalions and independent companies can (and usually do) issue their own insignia, which is worn as an enamel badge with a black leather backing buttoned into the right chest pocket, but this is optional and anyone wishing to wear it must purchase their own.

Answer: Commando

"Einzelkämpfer" is the German term for a commando soldier. In the past, there was a single training for this status, which has now been replaced with two separate levels, the first focusing more on individual skills (and emphasizing physical exhaustion in a similar way to the USMC's Hell Week) and the second on leadership skills. Today's insignia replace the silver-white parts with a subdued dark brown / black wearable on a camouflage uniform without breaking the pattern. The first level has a single oak leaf while the second shows two like the depicted insignia.

Einzelkämpfer status was, in cold war times, required for any career officer (not for a reserve officer, however) - it was expected that officers make any possible effort to escape captivity and make it back to friendly territory. Nowadays, officers only require a simplified basic version of this training without as much emphasis on physical endurance.

Answer: Service branch

German and surrounding army traditions have a concept called "Waffenfarbe", literally "arms color". There are thirteen distinct colors for the service branches, although some share the same color, such as the light blue which is both used for technical (maintenance) and supply units. A fourteenth color is for officers serving in a general's staff (top left, with the more feathered design) and generals' red mirrors the one worn by artillery troops. The rarest colors are white (musicians), burgundy (mid-bottom, NBC defense) and orange (military police) while green (infantry) and pink (tanks) are the most common. The color is also reflected in the piping around shoulder boards and, on the combat uniform, a thin band worn beneath the rank insignia.

By law, the collar insignia is an integral part of a general's rank insignia - this is not the case for any of the lower ranks.

These insignia are worn in pairs and the generals' version is the only asymmetrical one; the curved part at the top points away from the neck.

Answer: Duration of service

To be awarded one of these insignia, a soldier needs to first have training in a specific function at a sergeant's level (which is not restricted to NCOs - many enlisted service members do get this level of training as well) and then actively and satisfactorily serve for six months (bronze), five years (silver) or ten years (gold) in that function. Soldiers qualifying for more than two of these insignia have free choice of which of them to wear, it is neither required to reflect the current function nor to wear the highest two.