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The establishment of warrant officer ranks came about in the
early 1970's when the Soviet military faced a chronic shortage of senior
enlisted personnel. Reenlistment rates during this period averaged only
ten percent. In an effort to reverse this trend, the Soviet navy
reintroduced the warrant officer ranks. In the navy these were known as
michman, while in the subordinate services they followed ground force tradition
and called them praporchiks. These reforms improved the status of senior
enlisted men who chose to remain with the service. Those who were selected
as warrant officers were required to serve an additional five years, two of
which would be in the form of advanced technical training.
Warrant officers were also seen as being an interface between
the commissioned officers and enlisted men. They possessed greater
responsibilities due to their greater experience, but were also allowed to
relieve commissioned officers of their duties, or even become commissioned
officers after a time.
Featured in this section are additional shoulder rank boards
worn by the Soviet fleet and its subordinate services of naval infantry, coastal
artillery, and naval aviation. The boards on this page reflect the ranks
from seaman to senior warrant officer. Commissioned officer ranks are
listed in the previous section.
Back to
Insignia Index for
The Soviet Superpower
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