Finnish military ranks Finnish military ranks form a system that incorporates features from Swedish , German , and Russian armed forces . In addition , the system has some typically Finnish characteristics that are mostly due to the personnel structure of the Finnish Defence Forces . The ranks have official names in Finnish and Swedish languages and official English translations . The Swedish forms are used in all Swedish - languages communications in Finland , e . g . in Swedish - speaking units of Finnish Defence Force . The system of ranks in the Swedish Armed Forces is slightly different . Finland practices universal conscription of men ( c . 80 % of each age cohort ) , and maintains only a cadre of paid personnel for training and maintaining military readiness . Most of lower ranks are conscripts , and leave service as " sotamies " ( Private ) or " korpraali " ( Private 1st Class ) . Junior leaders , about 20 % of age cohort , serve 12 months and leave service as " alikersantti " ( Corporal ) or " kersantti " ( Sergeant ) . 10 % of conscripts are trained as reserve officer s , serving 12 months , and leave service usually as " vänrikki " ( 2nd Lieutenant ) or in the Navy as " aliluutnantti " ( Ensign ) . In principle , there should be no distinction between reserve and active ranks , and NCOs and reserve officers can be promoted in reserve , up to " everstiluutnantti " ( Lieutenant Colonel ) . During peace time , reserve officers are inactive , i . e . they do not receive pay or have a position in the chain of command . Reservists are in duty only when mobilized during a crisis or when attending mandatory or voluntary refresher exercises . Nevertheless , reserve NCO or officer ranks are respected within the Finnish society and are an entrance requirement to a military or border guard career . Rank and file and non - commissioned officers are promoted to their ranks by the commander of a brigade or equivalent , with the exception of the highest NCO ranks of " ylivääpeli " ( Warrant Officer 1 ) and " sotilasmestari " ( Chief Warrant Officer ) . All officers from " vänrikki " ( 2nd Lieutenant ) and higher are promoted to their ranks and commissioned to their offices by the President of Finland . Professional officers are trained at the Finnish National Defence University . Career officers graduate first as " sotatieteen kandidaatti " ( Bachelor of Military Science ) , which enables promotion to " luutnantti " ( Lieutenant ) then continue after 3 – 4 years temporary work to " sotatieteen maisteri " ( Master of Military Science ) , which enables promotion to " yliluutnantti " ( 1st Lieutenant ) and a commission to an office . Table of ranks . The ranks currently used by the Finnish Defence Forces are ( Finnish name above , and Swedish name below ) : Soldiers in the rank of a Private have branch - specific titles such as " tykkimies " " gunner " ; the general rank of " sotamies " is no longer in use ( see below ) . Ranks " sotamies " and " korpraali " comprise the rank - and - file ( " miehistö " ) , the rank " alikersantti " the junior command staff ( " alipäällystö " ) and higher ranks from " kersantti " are collectively known as command staff ( " päällystö " ) . The command staff may wear the peaked cap . Whereas , NCO ranks including " alikersantti " are collectively " aliupseeristo " as contrasted to commissioned officers ( " upseeristo " ) . All up to Major may be conscripts , although commission is given only to paid personnel . The insignia is different from other European systems by some features . Stars are not used in the insignia . Large roses , instead of oak leaves , denote ranks from major to colonel . Generals wear lions ( Lion of Finland ) , not stars . The qualifiers " yli " " Senior " and " ali " " Junior " are used in the names of some ranks ; for example , " kersantti " is " Sergeant " , while " alikersantti " is " Junior Sergeant " ( Corporal ) . In the army the insignia are placed in the collar in parade and service uniforms M / 58 and M / 83 and in field uniforms M / 62 and M / 91 . The airforce places the M / 58 insignia on the sleeve instead of the collar . In the navy where they have different parade dress they place the ranks on the sleeve and they also have the M / 83 insignia on the shoulders . If the insignia are placed on the arm or on the sleeve , sleeve insignia are used . In the modern field uniform M / 05 , the collar insignia are placed on the chest . The colours of the background and the lining on the Army and Airforce collar patches indicate branch of specialization . In field uniforms , the collar patches do not carry branch colours , borders or corner accents . The national flag is carried in all uniforms and the unit insignia on background of the serviceman ' s branch colour is carried on the arm in battledress M / 91 and M / 05 . In the table above , the army insignia for ranks from Private to Major are depicted on infantry collar patches , with the exception of Officer Student , which features Reserve Officer School collar patches . General officers ' collar patches are most often gold on red . However , in some cases , the background of the collar patch retains the original colour of his branch of service . In the Navy uniform , officers and Warrant officers wear the Lion of Finland on the top of their insignia , while Non - commissioned officers use the special insignia of their duty branch . In field uniforms , these emblems are dropped . Specialist officers always wear their specialist insignia in addition to their rank insignia on the collar patches . On sleeve and shoulder insignia , the specialty is denoted by coloured insignia background . The NCO students do not wear any collar insignia . Their sole rank insignia consists of a silver line worn on the shoulder or arm of all uniforms , except in M / 05 where the silver line is worn on the chest . Exceptions . General officers . The ranks of Field Marshal ( " sotamarsalkka " ) and Marshal of Finland ( " Suomen marsalkka " ) were bestowed on Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in 1933 and 1942 , respectively . These are officially not military ranks but honorific titles , but were used like military ranks senior to the rank of General . The insignia used was a general ' s insignia added with crossed marshal ' s batons . The rank of General may , as a sign of special recognition , include a service branch : those historically used were General of Infantry ( " jalkaväenkenraali " ) , General of Cavalry ( " ratsuväenkenraali " ) and General of Artillery ( " tykistökenraali " ) . These additions do not affect seniority . There are no living general officers with such recognition , the last one being General of Infantry Adolf Ehrnrooth ( 1905 – 2004 ) . All generals from Brigadier General to General are addressed as Mr . / Mrs . General ( " herra / rouva kenraali " ) , and similarly for Admirals . Military civil servants and specialist officers . Personnel serving in technical duties belonging to the officers without officer training hold the position of military civil servant ( " sotilasvirkamies " ) . Their rank is comparable to either Senior Lieutenant , Lieutenant and Staff Sergeant , depending on the level of the civilian education required to serve in this position . The lowest class is reserved for non - salaried military civil servants . Usually the military civil servants are an exception as their positions are likely to be filled by special officers , who have received officer training and hold commissions in addition to civilian academic education . The most typical specialties are engineering and medicine . Reservists may be promoted up to the rank of Major both in special and normal officer ranks , if they show extraordinary commitment to national defence . In rare cases , reservists have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . Chaplains serve in the ranks of Chaplain ( " sotilaspastori " ) , Senior Chaplain ( " kenttärovasti " , literally , " Field Dean " ) , and Chaplain General ( " kenttäpiispa " , literally , " Field Bishop " ) , corresponding to the ranks of Captain , Lieutenant Colonel , and Brigadier General , respectively . In addition , they have a personal rank into which they revert at the end of their clerical service in the Finnish Defence Force . Conscript chaplains and deacons serve in their personal rank . Officer training . Conscripts who have passed a reserve officer course , serve as Officer Candidate ( " upseerikokelas " ) and are considered NCOs ranking as sergeants , although usually senior to conscript sergeants ( they are promoted at least one day before any Corporal of the same induction year is promoted to Sergeant ) . They are addressed " rouva / herra kokelas " or " rouva / herra upseerikokelas " . At the end of their service period , they are promoted to 2nd Lieutenants . Cadets ( " kadetti " ) are career military , attending their professional officer education in the National Defence College . Cadets are senior to 2nd Lieutenants . In addition , the cadets may hold a cadet NCO rank which pertains to the seniority inside the Cadet Corps but does not affect their ranks in relation to other military personnel . NCO ranks . The NCO ranks in the Finnish Defence Force are filled by conscripts , career NCOs and contractual military personnel . The basic NCO rank is Enlistee ( " sotilasammattihenkilö " ) , which is a rank and file position reserved for career NCOs who have not received reserve NCO training . Its relation to other rank and file ranks is unspecified . Career NCOs usually serve in the ranks of Sergeant Major , Master Sergeant , Sergeant 1st Class , Staff Sergeant and Sergeant , the rank of Enlistee being reserved for career NCOs without conscript NCO training . The contractual military personnel ( " sopimussotilaat " ) serve in their reserve ranks . Until 2007 , reserve officers served in the rank of Staff Sergeant . This practice has now been abolished and nowadays reserve officers use their reserve rank . As both conscript and career NCOs may serve in the rank of Sergeant , career Sergeants use a small sword insignia in conjunction of the chevrons to distinguish them from conscripts . After discharge from the military , both career NCOs and contractual military personnel revert to their personal reserve ranks . The conscripts may hold the NCO ranks of Officer Cadet , Sergeant , Officer Student , or Corporal . Reserve personnel may hold any NCO rank . Special positions . There are some positions , which resemble military ranks in their name , but are not . The position of the " Sergeant Major of a company " ( or other unit such as battery in artillery ) is called " komppanian vääpeli " " Sergeant 1st Class of the company " . In past times it was the position of the unit ' s most senior career NCO , but nowadays the post is held often by someone from Sergeant up to Senior Lieutenant in training units , or by a conscript NCO ( " alikersantti " , " kersantti " etc . ) in mobilized units . Another example is " komendantti " , which is not a rank but a security / executive officer position in a brigade . While the rank of " komentaja " is found in the Navy , in general use it refers to a commander of a battalion or a larger unit . Privates . " Sotamies " is the generic rank for Private , however the rank of " sotamies " as is no longer used in any service branch . The rank is always given the name specific to the service branch : NCO students hold either the permanent rank of Private or Lance Corporal and rank accordingly . The rank of " alokas " is used to denote privates in basic training . The recruite , " alokas " is a new private , who has not been trained enough to have given a military oath or military guarantee . After having given an oath or such guarantee , the private soldier is not called anymore " alokas " , but he or she will be addressed as private or corresponding private level military rank . Paratroop Jaeger ( " laskuvarjojääkäri " ) and Special Jaeger ( " erikoisjääkäri " ) in Utti Jaeger Regiment ( " Utin jääkärirykmentti " ) and Special Border Jaeger ( " erikoisrajajääkäri " ) in Special Border Jaeger company of Border and Coast Guard School ( " Raja - ja merivartiokoulu " ) are " not " ranks , but specializations , where NCO training is given and thus each graduate is at minimum " alikersantti " . Historically , the rank of " sotamies " was used in generic infantry units , while the rank of Jaeger was in used specific Jaeger battalions , which derived their traditions from the Jäger Movement .