Hi Angus!
Rammkommando Elbe was formed under Hajo Herrmann, same guy who pioneered the "Wilde Sau" concept, very late in the war.
Although many FW-190A R7 and R8 variants were pressed into "Rammjager" service, that was not their original intent behind the design. In fact all "rammjager" aircraft were stripped down.
The "Sturm" units were trained "specialized" units for bomber interception. Although they did take an oath to shoot down a bomber or ram it they were not the same thing as "rammjager". The Sturmstaffel was considered an elite unit. They undertook a very hazardous job but took measures to mitigate the risk. They heavily armored the FW-190's and attacked en mass. Oscar says they thought of themselves like the heavily armored knights of medieval legend. They would form up online, and charge across the sky. Each Rotte would attack one bomber at close range from the six o'clock position. They adopted the Mounted Knight as their symbol. Although the unit took 500 percent casualties, suicide was not the endstate. The mission itself was extremely hazardous and they were expected to do their duty.
The "rammjager" were formed in the last months of the war and included any flyable aircraft the units could find. They were the German equivalent of the Kamikaze. Most of them had little to no training other than how to fly the plane and were recruited from the lower scoring pilot school candidates. They carried little to no ammo and their sole mission was to ram a bomber and destroy the USAAF's will to fight. The small amount of ammo they did carry was only to defend themselves against fighters. Their mission was to find the bombers, pick one, fly straight at it and collide producing maximum shock effect on the surviving bomber crews.
It's a common misconception. Many people think the R7 and R8 is the "rammjager". It is not. A different unit with different philosophy's to accomplish the same thing. One sought a cool professional willing to take enormous risk. The other sought any brave and desperate soul willing to do the mission. In fact talented pilots were turned away from the "rammjagers" as they were needed for the war.
http://www.afmuseum.com/friends/journal/frj_251.htmlAll the best,
Crumpp