Military ranks of the Swiss Armed Forces

The military ranks of the Swiss Army have changed little over the centuries, except for the introduction, in 2001, of a new set of warrant officers. The rank insignia for all personnel are worn on shoulder boards with the appropriate background colour (see below). Recruits of all services do not wear any rank insignia. Once recruit school is finished, privates wear one. Designations are given in German, French, Romansh and Italian (in this order), with an English translation which is used during overseas missions. In the chart below, NATO codes are used for comparison purposes only: Switzerland is not a member of NATO, and the rank structure in the senior officer region can be seen to diverge significantly from other armies'.

Enlisted ranks

NATO code	OR-2		OR-3	OR-4	OR-6		OR-7			OR-8	OR-9
Insignia
Title	Soldier (Private soldier)	Private	Private First Class	Corporal	Sergeant	Sergeant First Class	Sergeant major	Quartermaster Sergeant	Chief sergeant major	Warrant Officer	Staff Warrant Officer	Master Warrant Officer	Chief Warrant Officer
Abbreviation	Pte	Pte	PFC	Cpl	Sgt	SFC	SGM / Sgt Maj	QMS	CSM	WO	SWO	MWO	CWO

• Soldier - Private E-1 (Pte) – Soldat (Sdt); soldat (sdt); schuldà (sdt); soldato (sdt).
• Private E-2 (Pte) – Gefreiter (Gfr); appointé (app); appuntà (app); appuntato (app).

• Private first class (PFC) – Obergefreiter (Obgfr); appointé-chef (app chef); primappuntà; appuntato capo (app capo): the rank was introduced after a long debate on 1 January 2004. They are specialists, who take over tasks of responsibility or hold the position of a group commander. If the Obergefreiter has a commanding role, they count among the NCOs, otherwise they are enlisted personnel. A soldier may be promoted to Obergefreiter after attending the NCO course at the Swiss Army's Recruit School, during which time they are also called Anwärter. Upon very good conduct, a Gefreiter may also be promoted to Obergefreiter at a "repetition course". This promotion is not linked to extended duty (service time).
• Corporal (Cpl) – Korporal (Kpl); caporal (cpl); corporal (cpl); caporale (cpl).
• Sergeant (Sgt) – Wachtmeister (Wm); sergent (sgt); sergent (sgt); sergente (sgt).
• Sergeant first class (SFC) – Oberwachtmeister (Obwm); sergent chef (sgt chef); caposergent (csgt); sergente capo (sgt capo).
• Sergeant major (SGM/Sgt Maj) – Feldweibel (Fw); sergent-major (sgtm); primsergent (psgt); sergente maggiore (sgtm): the lowest rank of "Higher non-commissioned officers". The Feldweibel oversees unit-level military service and operations.
• Quartermaster sergeant (QMS) – Fourier (Four); fourrier (four); furier (fur); furiere (fur): the WO who administers a company's finances and subsistence.
• Chief sergeant major (CSM) – Hauptfeldweibel (Hptfw); sergent-major chef (sgtm chef); capoprimsergent (cpsgt); sergente maggiore capo (sgtm capo).
• Warrant officer (WO) – Adjutant Unteroffizier (Adj Uof); adjudant sous-officier(adj Sof); adjudant (adj); aiutante (aiut).
• Staff warrant officer (SWO) – Stabsadjutant (Stabsadj); adjudant d'état-major (adj EM); adjutant da stab (adj S); aiutante di stato maggiore (aiut SM).
• Master warrant officer (MWO) – Hauptadjutant (Hptadj); adjudant-major (adjm); adjutant principal; aiutante maggiore (aiut magg).
• Chief warrant officer (CWO) – Chefadjutant (Chefadj); adjudant-chef (adj chef); schefadjutant (schefadj); aiutante capo (aiut capo).

Officers

NATO code	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-2/3/4/5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9
Insignia
Title	Second Lieutenant	First Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Specialist Officer	Brigadier General	Major General	Lieutenant General	General
Abbreviation	2 Lt	1 Lt/LFC	Capt	Maj	LTC / Lt Col	Col	Spec Of	Brig Gen	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen

• Second Lieutenant (2 Lt) – Leutnant (Lt); lieutenant (lt); litenent (lt); tenente (ten).
• First Lieutenant (1 Lt/LFC) – Oberleutnant (Oblt); premier-lieutenant (plt); primlitenent (plt); primo tenente (1 ten).
• Captain (Capt) – Hauptmann (Hptm); capitaine (cap); chapitani (chap); capitano (cap).
• Major (Maj) – Major (Maj); major (maj); maior (mai); maggiore (magg).
• Lieutenant Colonel (LTC/Lt Col) – Oberstleutnant (Oberstlt); lieutenant-colonel (lt col); litinent colonel (lt col); tenete colonnello (ten col).
• Colonel (Col) – Oberst (Oberst); colonel (col); colonel (col); colonnello (col).
• Specialist Officer – Fachoffizier; officier spécialiste (of spéc); uffizier spezialist (uff spez); ufficiale specialista (uff spec).
• Brigadier General (Brig Gen) – Brigadier (Br); brigadier (br); brigadier (br); brigadiere (br).
• Major General (Maj Gen) – Divisionär (Div); divisionnaire (div); divisiunari (div); divisionario (div).
• Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) – Korpskommandant (KKdt); commandant de corps (cdt C); cumandant da corp (cdt C); comandante di corpo (cdt C).
• General (Gen) – General (Gen); général (gén); general (gen); generale (gen): the rank is only assigned during time of war. If needed, the general is elected by the Federal Assembly and is the commander of the whole army and air force; however, he is subordinate to the Federal Council. Generals were appointed during the Neuchâtel Crisis (Guillaume Henri Dufour), Franco-Prussian War (Hans Herzog), First World War (Ulrich Wille) and Second World War (Henri Guisan).

The four highest ranks can wear a dress uniform Kepi with additional rank insignia:

• 

  Brigadier General

• 

  Major General

• 

  Lieutenant General

• 

  General

Shoulder board colour

Staff officers, engineers, intelligence, chaplaincy

Infantry

Armoured Corps

Artillery

Air Force

Signal and command support corps

Medical corps, Red Cross service

Rescue corps

Logistic corps

Territorial service

Military security

NBC defence corps

Armed Forces Legal Service

Peace Support Operation

External links

• Swiss Army rank insignia as of 1st Jan 2006
• "Rank insignia" (pdf). Insignia of the Swiss Armed Forces. p. 31. http://www.vtg.admin.ch/internet/vtg/de/home/militaerdienst/allgemeines/gradi.parsys.0003.downloadList.89953.DownloadFile.tmp/51009iiidfiereglabzeichenweb.pdf. Retrieved 12 July 2009. 
• Good iPhone Tool to look-up and study Swiss Military Grades and Function Insignias

Media related to Military rank insignia of Switzerland at Wikimedia Commons