Wachtmeister (Freedom Ascendant)

The Wachtmeister is an enlisted rank in the German Army (Heer) and several other branches of the German Bundeswehr. There are several higher ranks containing the base form 'Wachtmeister,' the Stabs-, Haupt-, Ober-, Oberst-, and Oberstabswachtmeister ranks, all of which are typically referred to by the short form Wachtmeister, except in some training environments.



The rank is equivalent to the US E-5 grade, called Sergeant in the United States.

Originally, when recreating the German Army after the second world war, the Americans and British had printed out a number of materials calling the E-5 Sergeant, which is a German word, borrowed from French, but in deference to the Austrians who had fought against the national socialist regime, a number of whom were sergeants (Wachtmeister), the Austrian rank of Wachtmeister was adopted as the more German term for the rank.

American Drill Sergeants were made responsible for training the new German Army, retraining them to the American standard, using American techniques to get them ready and train them in American ideals, meaning constitutionalism, freedom, respect, patriotism, and honor.