Originally Posted by ktj4l

The exact translation would be 'protection relay'. However, it was more of a death squad during the 3rd Reich in Germany than anything. They were responsible for tons of war crimes, leading idiots into battle and making sure enough people were dying in concentration camps. The Schutzstaffel was basically the 'elite' of the German army under Hitler. Their training was insane and they themselves were insane as well. I hope that clears things up for you. I guess you could translate it as Protection Unit, because the word Staffel in German has one definition as 'Einheit' which translates directly to unit in English.