Sotilasmestari

Template:Template other Template:Infobox military rank ( in Swedish, chief warrant officer or sergeant major in English) is a Finnish military rank above () and below ().

History and related ranks

The rank derives from the (master specialist) rank that was originally available only in some branches of service. Early in the history of independent Finland's armed forces, graduates of the professional NCO school (see ) were promoted to (sergeant first class) upon graduation, but could not be promoted further, which led to frustration among outstandingly competent NCOs. Because of this, the rank was made available to all branches, and renamed (sergeant major, 'master soldier' directly translated from Finnish). Furthermore, the rank of (master sergeant) was also introduced. A Finnish speciality was that was ranked higher in Finnish army than (second lieutenant) in peace time. That was because was a professional soldier with decades of experience, but (second lieutenant) was a young reservist or a fresh graduate of the Cadet School. In wartime, the tables turned and (second lieutenant) was higher than .

In a 1993 reform, the professional NCO school () was "upgraded" such that graduates received the rank of (second lieutenant) upon graduation, and the intermediate ranks (, , ) were no longer actively awarded. The old NCOs with these ranks in active service were automatically promoted to officers overnight in August 1994. The rank of remained active until the last NCOs with the rank retired, or were promoted to (first lieutenant).

The professional NCO corps was founded again in 2007, and these ranks were reactivated. Only the old Finnish speciality that was senior to vänrikki in peacetime was abolished.

See also

• Finnish military ranks