General officers insignia consisting of the three
heraldic lions of a full general and crossed marshal's batons The ranks of
field marshal () and
Marshal of Finland () were bestowed on
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in 1933 and 1942, respectively. These are officially not military ranks but honorific
titles, but were used like military ranks senior to the rank of
general. The insignia used was a general's insignia with crossed marshal's batons. The Finnish Field Marshal grade would be the equivalent to the NATO OF-10 rank. All generals from brigadier general to general are addressed as "Sir/Ma'am General"(""), and similarly for admirals.
Historical honorary titles The rank of general may, as a sign of special recognition, include a service branch: those historically used were general of infantry (), general of cavalry () and general of artillery (). These additions do not affect seniority. There are no living general officers with such recognition, the last one being General of Infantry
Adolf Ehrnrooth (1905–2004). Personnel who fought in the
Finnish Jaegers of the German Army during World War I are often referred to as such, e.g. "Jaeger colonel".
Military civil servants and specialist officers Personnel serving in technical duties that hasn't completed any leadership training holds the position of Specialist ( i.e. military civil servant) at a class equal to their civilian education level. Their rank is equivalent to Staff Sergeant (Specialist 1st class - trade school), Lieutenant (Specialist 2nd class - Bachelor's degree) or First Lieutenant (Specialist 3rd class - Master's degree or above). Typical specialties include engineering, medicine and interpreters hired for UN peace keeping missions abroad. Military civil servants are rather rare as their position is likely to be filled by specialist officers i.e. personnel that has completed leadership training, has been commissioned and has the required civilian academic degree for the position. Reservists may be promoted up to the rank of major both in special and normal officer ranks, if they show extraordinary commitment to national defence. In rare cases, reservists have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Chaplains serve in the ranks of chaplain (), senior chaplain (, literally, "field dean"), and field bishop (), corresponding to the ranks of captain, lieutenant colonel, and brigadier general, respectively. In addition, they have a personal rank into which they revert at the end of their clerical service in the Finnish Defence Force. Conscript chaplains and deacons serve in their personal rank.
Officer training Conscripts who have passed the reserve officer course serve as officer candidates () at a rank equivalent to conscript sergeants but senior to them and below any career personnel. They are addressed or . At the end of their conscript, they are promoted to second lieutenants (air force, army) or sub-lieutenants (navy). Cadets () are students at the
National Defence University who have previously completed their reserve officer course during their military service and been admitted to the Bachelor's program in military science towards an officer career. Cadets are senior to second lieutenants. In addition, the cadets may hold a cadet NCO rank indicating their seniority within the Cadet Corps.
NCO ranks The NCO ranks in the Finnish Defence Force are filled by conscripts, career NCOs and contractual military personnel at ranks from corporal to sergeant-major. Nowadays, career NCO sergeants wear a heraldic sword under their chevrons to distinguish them from conscript and contractual sergeants. The contractual military personnel () usually serves in their reserve ranks. Until 2007, reserve officers served in the rank of staff sergeant. This practice has now been abolished and nowadays reserve officers use their reserve rank. After discharge from the military, both career NCOs and contractual military personnel revert to their personal reserve ranks. The conscripts may hold the NCO rank of officer cadet, sergeant, officer student, or corporal. Reserve personnel may hold any NCO rank.
Special roles within units There are some positions, which resemble military ranks in their name, but are not. The position of the company first sergeant (or other unit such as
battery in
artillery) is called "company sergeant first class". In past times it was the position of the unit's most senior career NCO, but nowadays the post is held often by someone from sergeant up to senior lieutenant in training units, or by a conscript NCO (, etc.) in mobilized units. Another example is , which is not a rank but a security/executive officer position in a
brigade. While the rank of is found in the navy, in general use it refers to a commander of a battalion or a larger unit.
Career rank and file personnel The rank of
sotilasammattihenkilö "military professional" is reserved for non-combat trained professionals serving within the
FDF in non-leadership roles such as those of social media assistant, photographer, or truck driver. Their rank insignia is a single heraldic sword and they rank above conscripts and below all other paid personnel.
Privates is the generic rank for private, however the rank of , as such, is no longer used in any service branch. The rank is always given the name specific to the service branch: • Jaeger () in the
infantry (including mortar personnel, who may be subordinated to infantry units) • Signalman () in the
signals corps • Armourman () in tank units • Armoured J
aeger () in mechanized infantry (including mechanized mortar unit's privates) • Driver () in the transport corps • Gunner () in the anti-aircraft corps, field artillery and coastal units of the navy • Missileman (
ohjusmies) in anti-aircraft
surface-to-air missile units such as
Helsinki Air Defence Regiment • NBC private () in
NBC defence units • Engineer () in the engineers • Airman () in the air force • Seaman () in the navy • Coastal
jaeger () in certain units of the Nyland Brigade () • Dragoon () in the Dragoon Squadron of Army Warfare School () - This squadron was disbanded in December 2016 • Cavalryman () in the Häme Regiment () – This regiment was disbanded in December 2014. • Guard
jaeger () in Guard Jaeger Regiment () • Border
jaeger () in the
border guards (conscript rank, enlisted border guard personnel are NCOs in ranks of border guard (, sergeant), senior border guard (, between staff sergeant and sergeant first class), border guard sergeant (, between sergeant first class and master sergeant) and border guard master sergeant ().) Roughly 10 percent of all privates are promoted to the rank of lance corporal () during their service. In comparison, non-commissioned officer students () hold either the permanent rank of private or lance corporal and rank accordingly. The rank of is used to denote privates in basic training. The recruit, is a new private, who has not been trained enough to have given a military oath or affirmation. After giving an oath or affirmation, the private soldier is no longer called but will be promoted to their private-level military rank corresponding to their service branch, e.g. . Paratroop jaeger () and Special jaeger () in Utti Jaeger Regiment () and Special border jaeger () in Special Border Jaeger Company of Border and Coast Guard School () are not ranks, but specializations, where NCO training is given and thus each graduate is at minimum . Historically, the rank of was used in generic infantry units, while the rank of jaeger was used in specific jaeger battalions, which derived their traditions from the
Jäger Movement. == Notes ==