Sorta. The germans had an interesting rank system in the war that is sorta unlike any other.
The german ranks are typically given as this:
Schuetze- Private
Oberschuetze- Private First Class
Gefreiter- Lance Corporal
Obergefreiter- Corporal
Stabsgefreiter- Staff Corporal
Unteroffizer- Sergeant
Unterfeldwebel- Staff Sergeant
Feldwebel- Sergeant First Class
Oberfeldwebel- Master Sergeant
Stabsfeldwebel- First Sergeant
(into the officer ranks, it follows normal western protocol).
That's in comparison to the USA military ranks. HOWEVER, that is NOT completely correct. The enlisted ranks of the german army were actually organized to reward good soldiers, and punish poor quality ones. It starts in the rank of Schuetze. From Schuetze, after training on a specialty weapon (machine gun, anti-tank rocket, arty gunner, mortar gunner, etc...), you were automatically promoted to Gefreiter. All others who were not specialists were promoted to Gefreiter within 6 months to a year after leaving basic training. This skipped the rank of Oberschuetze. The way you got promoted to Oberschuetze was either flunking your specialist training, or being unable to gain the automatic promotion to Gefreiter (disciplinary problems or such). It was possible however to rise to Gefreiter after being Oberschuetze, think of it was a wake-me-up rank.
After that, 6 months to a year after Gefreiter, you got Obergefreiter (this is on average of course, exemplary work could get you expressed through the ranks.) Beyond Obergefreiter, the next step was NCO training to become an Unteroffizer. Obergefreiters were normally section commanders (MG, mortar, heavy MG, or such), and in an infantry unit, acted as the XO of the squad. Those specially selected for NCO training wore a strip of tress over their shoulder board, width wise. If you passed NCO training, you were promoted to Unteroffizer, skipping the rank of Stabsgefreiter. If you flunked, or were otherwise deemed unfit to become an NCO, you were made Stabsgefreiter. Stabsgefreiter was the dead end rank. It was next to impossible to move up from that rank, and you were typically given disciplinary or staff roles, the only jobs that didn't require you to actually command men.
Beyond that, you have the normal NCO ranks. Stabsfeldwebel, unlike Stabsgefreiter, was an honorific rank, normally reserved for 20 year vets, who did not wish to become officers, which normally was given after the rank of Oberfeldwebel. However, if they chose too, they could still later become a Leutnant.
Mixed into the ranks of the German NCOs is a rank taht really is hard to place right, Hauptfeldwebel. The Hauptfeldwebel (or Spiess) was typically the senior NCO of the company, but could be anywhere from Unteroffizer to Stabsfeldwebel. The symbol of their rank was 2 strips of tress around each tunic cuff, and their booklet, which was placed into the tunic flap, and held lists of all the men in the unit, punishments, awards, promotions, equipment and food issues, etc....
Here you see a Hauptfeldwebel in the Luftwaffe on the left, the cuff tress and his booklet clearly visible. He holds the normal rank of Oberfeldwebel.
