Title: SS-Verfügungstruppe
Content:  the Allgemeine-SS (General SS), the SS-Verfügungstruppe, and the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) which administered the concentration camps. On 17 August 1938 Hitler decreed, that the SS military formations were to be placed at the "disposal" of the army in time of war. Hitler stated at Himmler's request, that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations. Further, units of the SS-TV would, during time of war, be used as reserves for the SS-VT. This would over the course of the war lead to a constant flux of men between the Waffen-SS and the Nazi concentration camps. The military formations under Himmler's command on 1 September 1939 consisted of several subgroups:
Title: Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
Content:  often of the size of a major military district. ; Oberster Führer der Schutzstaffel:, was a special title intended to be held solely by Adolf Hitler. When the SS became an independent organization from the SA, Hitler was listed on SS officer rolls as SS member #1 and the group's Supreme Commander.  This title was intended to give Hitler a technically higher SS rank to Himmler (Reich Leader of the SS), but there is no photographic record of Hitler wearing an SS uniform, and there was no special SS insignia for Hitler above that worn by Himmler. In addition to the rank titles used by the SS, the following titles were frequently interchanged when addressing SS personnel in certain positions of authority.
Title: SS-Verfügungstruppe
Content:  SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, thereby limiting its size. In 1936, Himmler selected former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser to be Inspector of the SS-VT with the rank of Brigadefuhrer. Hausser worked to transform the SS-VT into a credible military force that was a match for the regular army. The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler's personal body guard the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), which had also been formed from the SS-Stabswache and SS-Sonderkommando Berlin. The LSSAH under the command of Josef "Sepp" Dietrich continued to serve exclusively as a personal protection unit for Hitler and an honor guard during this timeframe. By 1937 the SS was divided into three 
Title: Waffen-SS
Content:  On 19 July 1940, Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag, where he gave a summary of the western campaign and praised the German forces involved. He used the term Waffen-SS when describing the units of the LSSAH and SS-VT that took part. From that day forward, the term Waffen-SS became the official designation for the SS combat formations. Himmler gained approval for the Waffen-SS to form its own high command, the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS within the SS-Führungshauptamt, which was created in August 1940. It received command of the SS-VT (the Leibstandarte and the Verfügungs-Division, renamed Reich) and the armed SS-TV regiments (the Totenkopf-Division together with several independent Totenkopf-Standarten). In 1940, SS chief of staff 
Title: Allgemeine SS
Content:  Adolf Hitler in 1925 ordered Julius Schreck to organise the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando ("Protection Command"). Hitler wanted a small group of tough ex-soldiers like Schreck, who would be loyal to him. The unit included old Stoßtrupp members like Emil Maurice and Erhard Heiden. The unit made its first public appearance on 4 April 1925. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to a national level. It was also successively renamed the Sturmstaffel ("Storm Squadron") and then finally the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron"; SS) on 9 November 1925. The SS was subordinated to the SA and thus a subunit of the SA and the NSDAP. It was considered to be an elite organization by both party members and the general population. The main task of the SS was the personal protection of the Führer of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. In 1925 
Title: Schutzstaffel
Content:  By the outbreak of World War II, the SS had consolidated into its final form, which comprised three main organizations: the Allgemeine SS, SS-Totenkopfverbände, and the Waffen-SS, which was founded in 1934 as the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and renamed in 1940. The Waffen-SS evolved into a second German army alongside the Wehrmacht and operated in tandem with them, especially with the Heer (German Army). However, it never obtained total "independence of command", nor was it ever a "serious rival" to the German Army. Members were never able to join the ranks of the German High Command and it was dependent on the army for heavy weaponry and equipment. Although SS ranks generally had equivalents in the other services, the SS rank system did not copy the terms and ranks used by the Wehrmacht's branches. Instead, it used the ranks established by the post-World War I Freikorps and the SA. This was primarily done to emphasize the SS as being independent of the Wehrmacht.
Title: Adolf Hitler's bodyguard
Content:  numbered in the millions, the SS started with less than a hundred men. The SS uniform included a black tie and a black cap with a Totenkopf ("death's head") skull and bones symbol on it. After March 1927, the SS had stricter entry requirements than the general SA. Although subordinate to the SA until the summer of 1934, its members behaved as though they were the Nazi Party elite. From January 1929 forward, the SS was commanded by Heinrich Himmler in his capacity as Reichsführer-SS; later in 1936, Himmler was appointed chief of all German police. Within the SS main branches of the Allgemeine 
Title: Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
Content:  The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was created as the militarized wing of the Schutzstaffel (SS; "Protective Squadron") of the Nazi Party. Its origins can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin, which became the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). In 1934, the SS developed its own military branch, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), which together with the LSSAH, evolved into the Waffen-SS. Nominally under the authority of Heinrich Himmler, the Waffen-SS developed a fully militarised structure of command and operations. It grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, serving alongside the Heer (army), while never formally being a part of it. It was Hitler's wish that the Waffen-SS should not be integrated into either the army or the state police, instead it would remain an independent force of military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer.
Title: Schutzstaffel
Content:  The Schutzstaffel (SS; also stylized as ᛋᛋ with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It began with a small guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from a small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. From the time of the Nazi Party's rise to power until the 
Title: Schutzstaffel
Content:   As the SS grew in size and importance, so too did Hitler's personal protection forces. Three main SS groups were assigned to protect Hitler. In 1933, his larger personal bodyguard unit (previously the 1st SS-Standarte) was called to Berlin to replace the Army Chancellery Guard, assigned to protect the Chancellor of Germany. Sepp Dietrich commanded the new unit, previously known as SS-Stabswache Berlin; the name was changed to SS-Sonderkommando Berlin. In November 1933, the name was changed to Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. In April 1934, Himmler modified the name to Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). The LSSAH guarded Hitler's private residences and offices, providing an outer ring of protection for the Führer and his visitors. LSSAH men manned 

Question: what does ss stand for in hitler's army?
Answer: Schutzstaffel.