What is the rank of sergeant? Military ranks of the Russian army by ascending order and categories

In order to know exactly how, according to the regulations, you are supposed to address a military personnel, you need to understand the ranks. Ranks in the Russian Army and shoulder straps provide clarity in relationships and allow you to understand the chain of command. In the Russian Federation there is both a horizontal structure - military and naval ranks, and a vertical hierarchy - from the rank and file to the highest officers.

Rank and file

Private is the lowest military rank in the Russian Army. Moreover, the soldiers received this title in 1946, before that they were addressed exclusively as fighters or Red Army soldiers.

If the service is carried out in a guards military unit or on a guards ship, then when addressing a private, it is worth adding the same word "guard". If you want to contact a military personnel who is in the reserve and has a diploma of higher legal or medical education, then you should contact - "Private Justice", or "private medical service". Accordingly, it is worth adding the appropriate words to someone who is in reserve or retired.

In a ship, the rank of private corresponds to sailor.

Only senior soldiers who perform the best military service are given the rank Corporal. Such soldiers can act as commanders during the latter's absence.

All additional words that were applicable for a private remain relevant for a corporal. Only in the Navy, this rank corresponds to Senior sailor.

The one who commands a squad or combat vehicle receives the rank Lance Sergeant. In some cases, this rank is assigned to the most disciplined corporals upon transfer to the reserve, if such a staff unit was not provided for during service. In the ship's composition it is "sergeant major of the second article"

Since November 1940, the Soviet army received a rank for junior command personnel - sergeant. It is awarded to cadets who have successfully completed the sergeant training program and graduated with honors.
A private can also receive the rank - Lance Sergeant, who has proven himself worthy to be awarded the next rank, or upon transfer to the reserve.

In the Navy, a sergeant of the ground forces corresponds to the rank foreman.

Next comes the Senior Sergeant, and in the Navy - chief petty officer.

After this rank, there is some overlap between land and sea forces. Because after senior sergeant, in the ranks of the Russian army appears Sergeant Major. This title came into use in 1935. Only the best military personnel who served excellently in sergeant positions for six months deserve it, or upon transfer to the reserve, the rank of sergeant major is awarded to senior sergeants certified with excellent results. On the ship it is - chief petty officer.

Next come warrant officers And midshipmen. This is a special category of military personnel, close to junior officers. Complete the rank and file, senior warrant officer and midshipman.

Junior officers

A number of junior officer ranks in the Russian Army begin with the rank Ensign. This title is awarded to final year students and graduates of higher military educational institutions. However, in the event of a shortage of officers, a graduate of a civilian university can also receive the rank of junior lieutenant.

Lieutenant Only a junior lieutenant can become a junior lieutenant who has served a certain amount of time and received a positive educational certificate. Further - senior lieutenant.

And he closes the group of junior officers - Captain. This title sounds the same for both ground and naval forces.

Senior officers

Senior officers begin with rank Major. In the navy, this rank corresponds to Captain 3rd rank. The following Navy ranks will only increase the rank of captain, that is, the rank of land Lieutenant Colonel will correspond Captain 2nd rank, and the rank Colonel – Captain 1st rank.

Senior officers

And the highest officer corps completes the hierarchy of military ranks in the Russian army.

Major General or Rear Admiral(in the navy) - such a proud title is worn by military personnel who command a division - up to 10 thousand people.

Above the Major General is Lieutenant General. (The lieutenant general is higher than the major general because the lieutenant general has two stars on his shoulder straps and the major general has one).

Initially, in the Soviet army, it was more likely not a rank, but a position, because the Lieutenant General was an assistant to the general and took on part of his functions, in contrast to Colonel General, who can personally fill senior positions, both in the General Staff and in the Ministry of Defense. In addition, in the Russian armed forces, a Colonel General may be the deputy commander of a military district.

And finally, the most important serviceman who has the highest military rank in the Russian army is Army General. All previous links must obey him.

About military ranks in video format:

Well, new guy, have you figured it out now?)

Ranks in the Russian army: comparison table + samples of shoulder straps + 12 interesting facts on the topic + 7 army customs.

Even if during military training lessons a mustachioed military instructor forced you to cram ranks in the Russian army, we are sure that nothing remains in your head except the uncontrollable “laughing” in class, the braids of your classmates and the first cigarettes smoked around the corner of the school.

It’s time to fill this gap in order to distinguish a “real colonel” from a “warrant officer Shmatko” at first glance.

Ranks in the Russian army? Where are they “distributed”?

In the Russian army, all military ranks are divided into 2 large categories:

• ship's (those received by brave sailors);
• military (assigned to “land rats”).

Category No. 1. “Ship”: “You are a sailor, I am a sailor...”

Those who serve in:

• Navy(its submarine and surface forces). Oh, these brave officers in naval uniform - how many girls’ hearts they broke!;
• military naval units Ministry of Internal Affairs. Yes, yes, there are also marine policemen!

protection (coastal) Border Service of the Russian FSB.

No, they do not catch poachers with two buckets of crucian carp, but protect water boundaries from illegal immigrants and other violators.

Category No. 2. “Military”: “And I love military men, handsome, hefty ones...”.

Meeting a sea captain in a white jacket is quite a difficult task if you do not live somewhere near the gentle sea. But don't despair!

In the Russian army, ranks are also obtained in:

• Armed Forces;
• Ministry of Internal Affairs (precinct and other police “people”);

Ministry of Emergency Situations (brave “Malibu rescuers”);

“If you think that the work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is pure heroism and a thriller, then I have to disappoint you: sometimes you just have to carry out explanatory work with priests so that they don’t burn the church with candles, and with them the old women parishioners and the cats from the trees film and tell grandmothers how to light the stove in winter and not suffocate from carbon monoxide. But the title, uniform and social benefits make the work much more bearable.”, - Vadim from Khmelnitsky shares his impressions of the service.

• Intelligence Service (external) (yeah, yeah, those same followers of Stirlitz!);
• Federal Security Service;
• other military units.

All ranks of the Russian army in one table: let’s dispel the “darkness of ignorance”

So that you don’t fall asleep on the third line of a simple listing of ranks in the Russian army, we offer you a simple cheat sheet (military and ship ranks placed on the same line correspond to each other):

As you can see from the table, there is one more military rank! But what!

Find 10 differences: shoulder straps for different ranks in the Russian army

So that at first glance it is clear “who is who?” in the Russian troops, insignia were introduced - sleeve insignia (for sailors) shoulder straps and epaulettes (for all soldiers).

1) Shoulder straps of non-officer ranks

2) Shoulder straps of officer ranks

Top 12 interesting facts about ranks in the Russian army

1. The only one who can command a Marshal of the Russian Federation (even give him the command “Take a prone position!”) ​​is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who is also the President of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is a position, not a rank in the Russian troops.
2. The current President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, left the FSB with the rank of colonel, but now the position allows him to “build” the holders of the highest military ranks.
3. The Minister of Defense commands both sailors and ground forces. Therefore, there is no rank higher than fleet admiral in the Navy.
4. Do not try to express your respect for the brave warriors by carefully writing out their ranks in the Russian armed forces with a capital letter. The fact is that all these words (from sailor to marshal) are written with a small letter;
5. If you are lucky enough to serve in guard units, then the word “guard” is added to the rank, for example, “guard colonel.” Agree, it sounds!

6. Even if you have retired or retired and are quietly growing cucumbers in your dacha, your title is assigned to you with the prefix “reserved” or “retired.”

   “A colonel, even if he is retired or in reserve, will still embarrass the traffic cop sergeant who stopped him for violating traffic rules. The poor guy will scold and scold him and let him go without a fine. That’s how the title works for you!”– military pensioner Alexander from Kharkov says with a laugh.

7. To the ranks of military doctors and lawyers they add “justice” (for example, “captain of justice”) or “medical service” (for example, “colonel of the medical service”).

   This, of course, is not George Clooney from ER, but it also sounds great!

8. Those who entered a military university to study, but so far only see their high ranks in the Russian troops in sweet dreams, are called cadets, and those who have already managed to “sniff gunpowder” (have a military rank) are called listeners.
9. For a whole year of (command) service, the maximum that you “shine” in the Russian army is the rank of sergeant.
10. Since 2012, the ranks of chief petty officer and petty officer have not been assigned (they are simply “skipped over”), but they remain on pieces of paper. This is such a “wonderland”!
11. Although the rank of major is higher than that of lieutenant, by some strange, inexplicable logic, a lieutenant general in the Russian Federation is higher in rank than a major general.

In the Russian army, the next rank is awarded for personal merit and length of service. If your commanders judge your bright moral character and high level of “combat and political training”, then how much time you need to “pipe off” from rank to rank, we will guide you:

No.	Rank in the Russian army	Length of service
1	Private, sailor	5 months
2	Junior sergeant, sergeant major of the second class	1 year
3	Sergeant, petty officer first class	2 years
4	Senior Sergeant, Chief Petty Officer	3 years
5	Ensign, midshipman	3 years
6	Ensign	2 years
7	Lieutenant	3 years
8	Senior Lieutenant	3 years
9	Captain, Lieutenant Commander	4 years
10	Major, captain 3rd rank	4 years
11	Lieutenant Colonel, Captain 2nd Rank	5 years

12. Then, to get another “star” on your uniform, you will have to serve for 5 years. A prerequisite is also to have a position suitable for your new rank:

    Rank	Job title
    Private	All newly drafted into the army, all lower positions (gunner, driver, gun crew number, driver, sapper, reconnaissance officer, radio operator, etc.)
    Corporal	There are no full-time corporal positions. The rank is assigned to highly qualified soldiers in lower positions.
    Junior Sergeant, Sergeant	Squad, tank, gun commander
    Staff Sergeant	Deputy Platoon Leader
    Sergeant Major	Company Sergeant Major
    Ensign, Art. ensign	Material support platoon commander, company sergeant major, warehouse chief, radio station chief and other non-commissioned positions that require high qualifications. Can occupy lower officer positions if there is a shortage of officers
    Ensign	Platoon commander. Usually this rank is awarded in conditions of acute shortage of officers after completing accelerated officer courses
    Lieutenant, Art. lieutenant	Platoon commander, deputy company commander.
    Captain	Company commander, training platoon commander
    Major	Deputy battalion commander. Training company commander
    Lieutenant colonel	Battalion commander, deputy regiment commander
    Colonel	Regiment commander, deputy brigade commander, brigade commander, deputy division commander
    Major General	Division commander, deputy corps commander
    Lieutenant General	Corps commander, deputy army commander
    Colonel General	Army Commander, Deputy District (Front) Commander
    Army General	District (front) commander, Deputy Minister of Defense, Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff, other senior positions
    Marshal of the Russian Federation	Honorary title given for special merits

The Russian army does not live by rank alone! 7 interesting military signs and customs

Ranks in the Russian army are, of course, a burning topic, but we also want to talk about interesting traditions, signs and customs in the army:

• Only the lazy have never heard of “washing” a new rank with the ritual dipping of “stars” into a glass of vodka and Sabantuy with their colleagues.

  There are whole instructions for carrying out this important, almost magical ritual - https://www.antik-war.lv/viewtopic.php?p=2140415

  a paratrooper is unlikely to take someone else's parachute.

  We suspect that this sign arose due to the fact that no matter how much you love your brother Seryoga, who sleeps with you in the barracks in the next bed, you cannot be sure that he will prepare the parachute as carefully as you;

  “Even though I still feel every unsuccessful jump in my bones and groan at bad weather, the landing is what made me a real man. And it’s not about shoulder straps, benefits and a normal pension, but the fact that it was there that I learned to do something through “I can’t”, learned what real male friendship is and, thanks to my service, traveled all over the world. I had a chic, rich youth without a mobile phone, the Internet and pretentious coffee shops", - Vladimir from Penza shares his memories.

• One match cannot be used to light cigarettes for three or more fighters.

  Experienced people say that during this time the sniper will have plenty of time to open aimed fire;

  Submariners do not shave during combat missions.

  Well, well, you won’t find young ladies on a submarine during the day with fire, so there’s no one to show off to;

• Submariners don't like the number 9, since many accidents occurred with boats in which this very “nine” was in the number (K-9, K-129, K-159, etc.);
• Paratroopers swimming in fountains on Airborne Forces Day– this is from the “Understand and Forgive” series;

The paratroopers make their first “jumps” from a stool, holding a box of matches between their knees.

Of course, you need to land softly, and the matches should not fall to the floor;

After the official part of the graduation ceremony, graduates of military universities hide several bills under each shoulder strap.

The money is received by the junior cadet who is the first to salute the newly-minted junior lieutenant and congratulate him on his promotion to the rank.

All shoulder straps and ranks of the Russian

Federations in one video:

We hope that the article helped you “discover America” of ranks in the Russian army and deal with this interesting issue once and for all.

Useful article? Don't miss new ones!
Enter your email and receive new articles by email

Military service implies the presence of military ranks among citizens who have made it their profession. The titles are the same for the entire Russian territory and are awarded in accordance with the legislation of the country.

The purpose of this form of distinction for military personnel is to ensure their subordination in relation to each other. The presence of a certain rank in a military man affects the conditions under which he serves.

In Russia, military ranks are divided into 2 types and can be military and naval. That is, the first are assigned to military personnel of the RF Armed Forces, and the second to employees of the Navy.

More specifically, military ranks indicate belonging to a certain specialty by adding a prefix or corresponding word to them. For example, for a military medic the prefix “medical service” is added to the rank, for a military lawyer - “justice”.

The words “retired, in reserve,” etc. clarify the current status of a serviceman. If a serviceman serves in a guards unit (ship), then the word “guards” is added before his rank.

Since 1993, the armed forces of our country have experimented with the appearance of shoulder straps reflecting the rank of a serviceman. There were quite a lot of intermediate projects until we settled on the design option that still exists today.

You can view the full list of existing military ranks in Federal Law No. 53 “On Military Duty” of 1998. The law makes a distinction between military service and conscription. If they talk about military service, then they mean the presence of citizens in a special type of civil service, and when mentioning the second, they mean army recruits with their subsequent stay in the reserves. But their ranks are called military in any case.

In the Federal Law (Article 46), ranks are listed in ascending order, which determines their seniority. Military ranks are conventionally divided into the following groups for the armed forces and navy, respectively:

The supreme commander of the armed forces of the state in Russia is considered the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (usually in wartime), this is the Russian President.

For the training of officers, there are higher military institutions, where during the period of study, citizens are called cadets, if before that they did not have any ranks or were in the rank of private/sailor. Persons who have other titles at the time of admission are listed as students.

Upon graduation from military schools, persons who have completed training there receive the rank of “lieutenant”. The same name will be given to citizens who studied at a civilian university where there was a military department after passing exams and training camps. Upon receipt of their diploma, they are awarded the rank of “reserve lieutenant.”

What insignia for military personnel look like

The military rank of a serviceman is indicated, first of all, by his shoulder straps and chevrons.

• Private soldiers and sailors on field uniforms and everyday uniforms do not have any distinctive insignia. And on the shoulder straps of the exit and dress uniforms there are golden metal letters, which indicate belonging to the type of service or training. For example, the letter “F” is the fleet, “KK” is the cadet corps, etc.
• For sergeants and foremen, shoulder straps are distinguished by the presence of metal corners (straps) that are directed upward, and warrant officers and midshipmen can be identified by small stars that are located vertically. Junior officers are provided with shoulder straps with vertical stripes and small stars.
• Senior officers can be identified by two gaps and large stars on their shoulder straps. Representatives of senior officers wear shoulder straps with large vertical stars that have no gaps.
• Marshals' shoulder straps are decorated with a very large one star, and they also have the Russian coat of arms.

For military personnel, there is a certain order in which they receive ranks. They are assigned personally to each military person.

They are assigned a subsequent rank only when the previous one expires. Duration of service refers to the period a person must remain in the previous rank to be eligible for promotion.

The countdown of the period required to obtain a higher rank starts from the date of publication of the order on conferring the rank. It includes breaks due to the unlawful conviction or dismissal of a military personnel, suspension of service. An exception to the rules is the time spent under arrest and serving a sentence, which do not count towards this period.

Receiving titles is first and foremost. The law provides for their assignment earlier than the due date if a military person has special services to the Motherland. Such a position becomes possible if that applicant holds a position in which his present rank is lower than the highest distinction provided for herein. Early assignment of ranks is carried out by an authorized official.

The procedure for deprivation and restoration of ranks

Only the judicial authorities have the right to deprive a military man of his rank. This happens by court decision in connection with the crime he has committed, which can be serious or especially serious. According to the law, the court has the right to do this, regardless of who awarded the title. Such a court decision entails the removal from the serviceman of all benefits and social privileges that he had due to his military status.

A citizen has the right to be reinstated in rank after expunging a criminal record. To do this, you will need to obtain the consent of the authorized body and a positive review from the military commissar. The order of his actions should look like this:

1) The citizen must submit an application to the commissariat regarding reinstatement of rank. It must be reviewed within 30 days.

2) If there are grounds for restoration (illegal court verdict), the commissariat employees prepare a presentation, and the authorized official issues an order to return the rank to the applicant.

For sergeants and foremen, the law provides for disciplinary punishment for a specific offense. It consists of demoting him in rank by one step by order of the head of the institution, who holds the position of regiment commander or higher. After this, the serviceman is obliged to change his shoulder straps in accordance with the new rank.

This decision is made after an objective investigation to determine the causes of the incident. The penalty can be lifted after the incident for at least 3 months, after which the military rank is returned to the serviceman.

On our website you can ask absolutely any question you are interested in to a lawyer or attorney, regardless of the topic or complexity of the request. By bringing together professional lawyers who provide free legal advice and people who are looking for answers to legal questions, we have become an indispensable assistant for thousands of people across the country. Online legal consultation is a convenient way to get the necessary information on all legal issues and practical advice on how to solve them.

By virtue of the provisions of Part I of Article 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every citizen is guaranteed qualified legal assistance. All legal consultations are carried out within the framework of Federal Law No. 324 of November 21, 2011 “On Free Legal Aid”.

VKontakte has a lot of information: interesting facts, news, articles. One day I came across a post about military ranks of the Russian Federation and quickly memorized them.

Now I decided to write a short article on how anyone can quickly learn them. I myself remembered it differently, but here I will describe it in accessible language for everyone.

DO IT STRICTLY IN STEPS and by the end of reading the post you will remember all the ranks (military) and the corresponding shoulder straps!

It will take you no more than 5 minutes!

1. Private
2. Corporal
—————————
3. Junior Sergeant
4. Sergeant
5. Senior Sergeant
6. Sergeant Major
—————————
7. Ensign
8. Senior warrant officer
—————————
9. Junior Lieutenant
10. Lieutenant
11. Senior Lieutenant
12. Captain
—————————
13. Major
14. Lieutenant Colonel
15. Colonel
—————————
16. Major General
17. Lieutenant General
18. Colonel General
19. Army General (not in the picture above)
20. Marshal of the Russian Federation (not in the picture above)

Military ranks

1. Let’s encode some titles with associatively vivid visual images.

Private - carrot bed
Corporal - flute
Sergeant - earring
Major - mayonnaise
Lieutenant - watering can
Colonel - ladle
Lieutenant Colonel - bent ladle
Ensign - Borschik
Foreman - grandfather with a beard
General - crocodile Gena

2. We read and imagine the images, then look at the pictures.

Tomato: there is a row of carrots on the stems (Private), a flute pierces a tomato (Corporal).

Orange: on the leaf there is a small earring (Junior Sergeant), on the stem of medium size (Sergeant), on the peel there is a large earring (Senior Sergeant), in the pulp there is a grandfather with a beard (Sergeant Major).

Lemon: at one end there is a plate of borscht (Ensign), in the middle there is a pan of borscht (Senior Ensign), at the end there are 2 stars.

Grass: one behind the other is a small watering can (Junior Lieutenant), a medium watering can (Lieutenant), a large watering can (Senior Lieutenant), the Captain stands next to him, followed by a fairy wand.

Cloud: at one end there is mayonnaise (Major), in the middle there is a bent ladle (Lieutenant Colonel), a ladle (Colonel), a pregnancy tester with a star.

Marker: On the cap there is a crocodile Gena with mayonnaise (Major General), on the stem Gena with a watering can (Lieutenant General), in the middle Gena with a ladle (Colonel General).

Each item has a specific appearance with shoulder straps.

Tomato And Orange- only stripes (easy to remember)
Lemon— the stars begin (that’s why there are 2 stars hanging on the lemon)
Grass- a stripe and a star appear (fairy wand on the grass)
Cloud— a second stripe and a star appear (pregnancy tester on the cloud)
Marker- zigzag pattern (zipper on marker)

The sequential appearance of stars on ranks is not difficult to remember visually.
The last ones are the General of the Army and the Marshal of the Russian Federation; they are also easy to remember at the end.

Private, Corporal

Jr. Sergeant, Sergeant, St. Sergeant, Foreman

Ensign, St. Ensign

Jr. Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Senior Lieutenant, Captain

Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel

G.Major, G.Lieutenant, G.Colonel

3. Now let’s remember the colors of the rainbow.

Each (red - tomato)
Hunter (orange - orange)
Wishes (yellow - lemon)
Noble (green - grass)
Where (blue - sky)
Sitting (blue - marker)
Pheasant (we don’t need it 🙂)

This way we remember the order of all objects.
Repeat several times from memory.

Congratulations!

Now you know all the ranks in order, and you can name the rank by shoulder straps and remember which ranks correspond to which shoulder straps.

At first you will name it slowly, but with each repetition the speed of recall will increase.
This is how you can quickly learn the ranks and shoulder straps of Russian military personnel.

P.S. If you liked it, repost and write comments. I will publish new posts like this.

Ranks in the Russian army is a topic that I was able to understand only thanks to my service in the army. I remember how in life safety lessons the teacher forced all the guys to learn them by heart, but even after long cramming, only empty sounds were stored in my head.

Now I have the opportunity to compare these words with real people I meet around. Thanks to this, I was able to structure this knowledge very simply and clearly so that each of you, dear readers, could easily and for a long time remember what soldiers sometimes take a whole week to remember...

What are the ranks in the Russian army?

As you already understood, before joining the army I had almost no understanding of military ranks. I only knew the basics. The service forced me to memorize them so that I could easily determine who I was addressing or, conversely, who was addressing me.

As always in such articles, I want to start by defining the basic concept. Let's figure out what ranks there are in the Russian army.

In our country, there are two types of military ranks for military personnel - military And ship.

Ship military ranks are assigned to sailors:

• surface and submarine forces of the Navy;
• naval military units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia;
• Coast Guard Border Service of the FSB of Russia.

Military ranks are assigned to other military personnel performing military service in:

• Russian Emergency Situations Ministry;
• Federal Security Service;
• Foreign Intelligence Service;
• Federal Security Service;
• Internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation;
• other troops, military formations and bodies.

Great. We understand the concepts. Now let's go upward. From lower rank to higher. What is their hierarchy?

Non-officer ranks in the army

1. Private ~ Sailor.
2. Corporal ~ Senior sailor.
3. Junior sergeant ~ Sergeant major of the second class.
4. Sergeant ~ Foreman of the first article.
5. Senior Sergeant ~ Chief Petty Officer.
6. Petty Officer ~ Chief petty officer.
7. Ensign ~ Midshipman.
8. Senior Warrant Officer ~ Senior Midshipman.

What did everyone think? What are all these ranks in our army? No, my friends. The most interesting thing is ahead - the officer corps. It is divided into several parts:

• Junior officers.
• Senior officers.
• Senior officers.

Officer ranks in the army

Military rank ~ Ship rank.

1. Junior Lieutenant ~ Junior Lieutenant.
2. Lieutenant ~ Lieutenant.
3. Senior Lieutenant ~ Senior Lieutenant.
4. Captain ~ Lieutenant Captain.

These were junior officers. Now let's move on to the older one.

1. Major ~ Captain 3rd rank.
2. Lieutenant Colonel ~ Captain 2nd rank.
3. Colonel ~ Captain 1st rank.

And finally, the senior officers.

1. Major General ~ Rear Admiral.
2. Lieutenant General ~ Vice Admiral.
3. Colonel General ~ Admiral.
4. General of the Army ~ Admiral of the Fleet.
5. Marshal of the Russian Federation ~ There are no analogues.

As you can see, the number of ship ranks is exactly one less than the number of military ranks. But what kind!

OK then. We figured out the ranks and their order. How can we differentiate them now? And for this, dear readers, people came up with shoulder straps and sleeve insignia (the latter only for ship ranks).

It is them that we will now analyze. First - in words, then - graphically.

Shoulder straps

• Soldiers and sailors

They do not have any insignia on their shoulder straps.

• Sergeants and petty officers

They have insignia in the form of fabric braids - stripes. In the army these stripes are called “snot”.

• Ensigns and midshipmen

They have insignia in the form of small stars located vertically. The shoulder straps are similar to the officer's, but without gaps and may have edgings (for more details, see the pictures below).

• Junior officers

One vertical stripe is a gap. The sprockets are metal, small (13 mm).

• Senior officers

Two clearances and large metal sprockets (20 mm).

• Senior officers

Vertically located embroidered stars of large size (22 mm), no gaps.

• General of the Army, Admiral of the Fleet

One large embroidered star with a diameter of 40 mm.

• Marshal of the Russian Federation

It has one very large embroidered star (40 mm) against a background of radiating silver rays forming a pentagon, and the coat of arms of Russia (without the heraldic shield).

For those who find it difficult to perceive the text and just to consolidate the information received, I suggest you look at the pictures corresponding to the above.

Shoulder straps of non-officers

Officer's shoulder straps

Russian Army Command

The next point of our analysis is faces. Those people who lead our army.

First of all, of course, I want to name the Supreme Commander-in-Chief - the President of the Russian Federation.

Supreme Commander-in-Chief is not a rank, but a position. The only position that allows you to manage the Marshal of the Russian Federation.
An interesting fact is that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin finished his service in the FSB with the rank of colonel, and his current position allows him to lead representatives of the highest officer ranks.

Please note that Sergei Kuzhugetovich bears the rank and shoulder straps of an army general.

The Minister of Defense is the commander of both the ground forces and the navy. This is why there is no rank higher than fleet admiral in the navy.

By the way. Which of you, friends, noticed that I began to write such high ranks as admiral and marshal in small letters? Do you think this is a mistake? I have to disappoint you. No! Why? Read the next part of the article.

Interesting facts about ranks in the army

• The prefix “guard” (for example, “guard major”) is applied to the military ranks of military personnel of guards units.
• In relation to military personnel of the legal and medical services, the words “justice” and “medical service” are added, respectively.
• For military personnel who are in reserve or retired, the words “reserve” and “retired” are added, respectively.
• Military personnel studying at a military educational institution of professional education are called: those who do not have the military rank of officers - cadets, and those who have a military rank - students.
• Citizens who did not have a military rank before entering a military educational institution or who had the military rank of sailor or soldier are assigned the military rank of cadet upon admission to study. Other military ranks awarded before entering a military educational institution of vocational education are retained.
• Military ranks are given after the required length of service and for personal merit. If everything is clear with merits, then let’s figure out how long it is necessary to serve in order to reach the desired rank. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 22 “Regulations on the procedure for military service” the following deadlines are established for military service in military ranks:
  - private, sailor - five months;
  - junior sergeant, sergeant major 2 articles - one year;
  - sergeant, foreman 1st article - two years;
  - senior sergeant, chief petty officer - three years;
  - ensign, midshipman - three years;
  - junior lieutenant - two years;
  - lieutenant - three years;
  - senior lieutenant - three years;
  - captain, captain-lieutenant - four years;
  - major, captain 3rd rank - four years;
  - lieutenant colonel, captain 2nd rank - five years.
  Next - 5 years.

Important point. The title can only be obtained if there is a suitable position in the unit. About positions and what ranks you can reach in a particular position in the next article.

• The ranks of petty officer and chief petty officer have not been awarded since 2012. They still exist in documents.
• All military ranks - from private to marshal of the Russian Federation - are written with a small letter.
• The rank of major is higher than the rank of lieutenant, but major general< генерал-лейтенант.
• The highest rank that can be achieved in a year of military service is now sergeant.

Dear readers. I hope that while reading this small but very important article, you have formed an understanding of what ranks there are in our army, and in what order they are located.