Staffelführer

Staffelführer was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German "Schutzstaffel" (SS) in the early years of that group’s existence. The SS rank of "Staffelführer" traces its origins to the First World War, where the title was used by commanding officers of German aircraft squadrons, known as "Stafflen".

The rank of "Staffelführer" was first created in September of 1925 when the SS was officially formed along the lines of the previously disbanded "Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler", which had been a personal "Sturmabteilung" (stormtrooper) bodyguard detachment tasked with the personal protection of Adolf Hitler at Nazi Party rallies and meetings.

The early SS was formed into several "Zehnerstaffeln", or “Groups of Ten”. Each SS unit comprised no more than ten SS-Mann under the command of an "SS-Staffelführer", or Squadron Leader. The Staffelführer in turn answered to a local "SS-Gauführer", or District Leader, who answered to the National Leader of the SS, known as the "Reichsführer-SS".

By April 1926, the basic SS unit had become the larger "SS-Sturm" which comprised as many as fifty SS troopers. The rank of Staffelführer, at this point, became known simply as "SS-Führer". In 1929, the rank of "SS-Führer" was officially renamed as "SS-Sturmführer". By 1930, the rank of "SS-Staffelführer" had all but disappeared from the SS. It reappeared the following year, in 1931, as a rank of the NSKK.

In the early years of its existence, "SS-Staffelführer" had no particular insignia and holders of the rank simply wore paramilitary uniforms with a variety of Nazi insignia. By 1929, an "SS-Staffelführer" could be identified by a swastika armband with a white circular stripe.