[2] The field grey SS uniform displayed the rank with silver collar piping and the shoulder boards of an Unteroffizier.

[1] Unterscharführer was the most junior and most common non-commissioned officer rank of the SS and was the equivalent of an Unteroffizier in the German Wehrmacht.

The rank was held commonly as a non-commissioned officer staff position and could be found in all of the Nazi security agencies, including the Sicherheitsdienst and the Einsatzgruppen.

In the Waffen-SS an Unterscharführer was as a junior squad commander, one of several attached to company and platoon sized formations.

During this time the aspirant was known as an Untersharführer-Anwärter (English: junior squad leader candidate) until passing the required evaluation, training and promotion board.