'storm chief leader'; short: Stuhaf), renamed to Hauptsturmführer (lit.

'chief storm leader'; short: Hstuf), was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank designation used by both the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the Schutzstaffel (SS).

The rank translates as "head storm leader" and can trace its origins to the German shock troops of the First World War, who were typically organized into storm trooper companies under an officer ranked lieutenant or captain.

SA-Hauptsturmführer was initially considered as more of a senior lieutenant, but after 1932 the rank was rated above that of SA-Obersturmführer and became the equivalent of a captain.

[1] In 1934, after the Night of the Long Knives, the SS changed the name to SS-Hauptsturmführer (and by then the new lower rank of SS-Obersturmführer had been established).