Huoltoaliupseeri
From The D Archives
Huoltoaliupseeri (also known as "Huoltopalvelualiupseeri") also known as the Huolto-AU, is the Finnish term for a supply NCO. Often known in the "circles" as Super Spade.
Usually the supply NCO's complete a few months in the infantry NCO-course, but are then transferred either by their own willingness or by "the needs of the company" to the special NCO course designed to train supply NCO's.
So, what do the supply NCO's do, exactly? Well, their jobs are usually that of supply, naturally. Most often, though, if the supply NCO ends up in a non-supply company - let's say an infantry company for an example, then he only has a few possibilities for work - he either leads the team responsible for field cooking (muonitusryhmä) inside the supply platoon of a company, or then if he or she gets "lucky", he might end up as the supply platoon commander and Toimisto-AU (Clerk NCO) all at the same time.
The whole concept of a supply NCO actually sounds alot cooler than what it really is after awhile. The NCO course for supply mainly consists of the guys just learning to prepare how to make food with their field kitchens, since during your conscription time that will be the most that the supply NCO gets to do anyway - prepare food or make sure that your subordinates prepare the food for the fighting elements in time. Your subordinates will consist of enlisted "slop jockeys" serving for six months.
So, if you're into the lazy business - then becoming an NCO in supply will definitely be the choice for you, since especially after the NCO course, you don't have to necessarily do much if you're just landed with the field cooking team-job. Mostly, though, things will be easier for supply NCO's serving in the Finnish army, since from what I've seen and heard, the world is a completely different of a thing for the supply guys out in the navy.
