They were positioned in critical battlefield roles and, along with their extra rank privileges, they were generally exempted from sentry duties.

[5][6] Gefreiter was the only enlisted rank within the Royal Prussian Army and the imperial army of the German Empire until 1918, to which an exceptional enlisted soldier could be promoted on the recommendation of the Hauptmann (Captain) or Rittmeister (Cavalry-Master), and ultimately endorsed by the Regiments-Commandeur (Regimental Colonel).

[5] The rank of Gefreite-Korporale also existed alongside Gefreiter in the Austrian Army during the Thirty Years' War.

Then rank insignia was a single white celluloid star on the stand-up collar of the so-called Waffenrock (tunic) on gorget patch (German: Paroli).

or G.) is the second enlisted rank grade within the modern-day Army (Heer), Air Force (Luftwaffe), and Navy (Marine) of the Bundeswehr.

(German enlisted rank) Gefreiter Throughout the periods of the Royal Prussian Army, the Imperial Army of the German Empire, the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht, and the Waffen-SS, the rank of Gefreiter was considered equivalent to that of a lance corporal.

A Gefreiter was considered an "exempted man", who was not typically assigned more menial duties, such as guard detail.

Rundstedt often remarked during and after the war, "Without Hitler's consent, I can't even move my own sentry from my front door around to the back!"

Wilhelm Keitel once asked Hitler, "Do you realise that Rundstedt called you a Bohemian corporal?"

In Russia, the rank of yefreytor was introduced by Peter I in 1716 to the infantry, cavalry, and engineer forces.

In the armed forces of the Soviet Union (and later the Russian Federation), yefreytor is the highest rank of enlisted personnel.