Scharführer
Scharführer (, ) was a title or rank used in early 20th Century German military terminology. In German, "Schar" was one term for the smallest sub-unit, equivalent to (for example) a "troop" , "squad", or "section". The word "führer" simply meant "leader". The term "Scharführer" can be traced to World War I, when it was referred to a NCO in charge of several shock troopers, or other special forces soldiers. It was, however, used far more widely by Nazi Party paramilitary organizations, between 1925 and 1945 and became strongly associated with them. Nazi usage. "Scharführer" is most recognizable as a rank  of the SS and title of the SA. "Scharführer" was first used as a title in the "Sturmabteilung" (SA) as early as 1921 and became an actual rank in 1928. "Scharführer" was the first non-commissioned officer rank of the SA, and was denoted by a single pip centered on a collar patch. In 1930, veteran "Scharführer" were appointed to the new rank of SA-"Oberscharführer", denoted by an additional silver stripe to the "Scharführer" collar patch. The "Schutzstaffel" (SS) used the same insignia for "Scharführer" as the SA, but the level of rank changed in 1934 with a reorganization of  the SS rank structure. At that time, the old rank of SS-"Scharführer" became known as SS-"Unterscharführer" with the title of SS-"Scharführer" becoming equivalent to an SA-"Oberscharführer". The rank of SS-"Truppführer" was removed from the SS, to be replaced by SS-"Oberscharführer" and the new rank of SS-"Hauptscharführer". The early Waffen-SS created an even higher rank, known as SS-"Sturmscharführer". Within the SA, "Scharführer" was senior to the rank of SA-"Rottenführer" while in the SS, a "Scharführer" was senior to that of SS-"Unterscharführer". The rank of "Scharführer" was also used by other Nazi Party organizations; among them the National Socialist Flyers Corps  (NSFK), National Socialist Motorist Corps (NSKK) and the Hitler Youth (HJ).