Germany
In today's German Federal Defence Forces (German: Bundeswehr), almost every enlisted soldier, airman and sailor (military recruit-cadet) successfully passing the 3 month basic military training course is promoted to Gefreiter. Following the NATO ranking system, Gefreiter ranks as Private (OR-2), Obergefreiter as PFC (OR-3 lower half), Hauptgefreiter as Lance-Corporal (OR-3 upper half), Stabsgefreiter and Oberstabsgefreiter as Corporal (OR-4). The German equivalent of Private (OR-1) is Schütze (Rifleman) or another unit type-specific term (like Kanonier, "gunner") in the Heer (German Army), Matrose (sailor/seaman) in the German Navy, Flieger (aviator/airman) in the Luftwaffe (Airforce), or simply Soldat (" soldier").
During World War I and World War II, Gefreiter was considered more to be a lance corporal, with the rank of full corporal known as Unteroffizier (subordinate Non-Commissioned Officer), which ranked between an American sergeant and corporal and approximately equivalent to a British corporal in responsibility.
The German Navy, Marine, has also periodically maintained a rank known as Matrosengefreiter, translated as "Seaman Corporal", and equivalent to an Able Seaman or Leading Seaman.
One of the best known holders of the rank of Gefreiter was Adolf Hitler, who held the rank in the Bavarian Infantry during World War I. (Note: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a book written by William L. Shirer, a U.S. journalist and correspondent who reported from Berlin during World War II, states that Hitler was examined for military service on February 5, 1914, and found unfit to serve by cause and or reason of poor health. When World War I started, he petitioned King Ludwig III of Bavaria for permission to enter military service in a Bavarian regiment and was accepted.)
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