The Role of the "Spieß" in the German Luftstreitkräfte

[Kanzler]

Friends,

in todays Luftwaffen Units the "Spieß" (Company Sergeant Major) plays quite an important role. As senior NCO he is charge of all Admin stuff and "backbone" of the unit. He is also referred to as "Mother of the unit".
How was that handled "back in the good ol' days"? Was all that done by the O.z.b.V.? Many of those are very well known... To my knowledge there was no post for that... or was it?

...just curious...

Greetings - Kanzler

[Volker_Nemsch]

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My guess is that the "rank" already existed in older German armies. But in those days the structures were different with a huge "gap" between the (noble) officers and the NCOs/enlisted men. Jäger-troops were some kind of exception from this rule.

I'm sure that the importance for having a "Spieß" (highest ranking NCO) in the unit (Kompanie/company) grew during the last century, simply because the armies changed.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kompaniefeldwebel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_sergeant_major

The term itself definitely is an old one (Spieß/spontoon):

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontoon

I know this is only half the answer, but I hope this helps a bit...

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[VtwinVince]

I think the title of Offizier zur besonderen Verwendung comes closest, as we know that the Spiess was a later creation. I suppose Bodenschatz comes to mind, although these men were usually officers.