Who is the ensign?

Most people who are not related to the army, about ensigns have a very vague idea, which developed on the basis of watching television series or anecdotes once heard. For them, the ensign is at best an enterprising businessman in uniform, who, in the case of “he won’t miss, ” and at worst, a sort of dumb drinker.

But in fact, this is not so at all.

Ensign: meaning of the word

The history of the word "ensign" dates back to the Church Slavonic language, in which the banner was called "ensign". Therefore, the ensign is a person who carries the banner. But the word "banner" comes from the token "know." Other words also came from him, such as “meaning”, “familiar”. Therefore, a banner is an attribute elevated to the level of a symbol, which determined the belonging of a military unit, its “face”. Going into battle, the standard bearer was always ahead of the advancing army, carrying a cloth. Moreover, in the event of the loss of a combat banner, the military unit to which it belonged disbanded with shame. Therefore, for such an honorable mission, the most courageous and strong people were selected both physically and morally.

Warrant Officer as a military rank

The military title "ensign" was first introduced in 1649 by the second of the kings of the Romanov dynasty - Alexei Mikhailovich. Moreover, this title was award, which had to be earned on the battlefield with his valor, selflessness and courage. But Peter I, the son of Alexei Mikhailovich, who replaced him on the royal throne, when creating his new regular army, transformed in 1712 the rank of ensign into a military rank. Now this was the name of the youngest of the officer ranks in the infantry and cavalry.

In 1884, changes occurred again. The title "ensign" ceased to be the first among officers. In the army, he was replaced by a "second lieutenant" ("cornet" in the cavalry). However, as an officer’s rank, he was kept for reserve personnel and the Caucasian police. Also, the title "ensign" could be assigned to soldiers who distinguished themselves during the fighting.

Since 1886, the junior military ranks had the opportunity to obtain the rank of ensign by passing special exams, but after that, already in the “reserve”, they had to undergo a month and a half military training annually.

The next changes with the possibility of obtaining the rank occurred during the reign of Nicholas II. In 1912, the monarch approved a provision that allowed the assignment of the rank of ensign to cadets of military and special schools in the event of their accelerated release (after 8 months of training) in connection with mobilization in the army.

Thus, during the war of 1914-1918, "early" warrant officers formed the basis of the commanding staff, leading small units or machine-gun crews.

55 years without warrant officers

With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks (1917), the military rank "ensign" was abolished, as, indeed, all other military ranks. Interestingly, the first Supreme Commander of the Red Army after the 17th year was N.V. Krylenko, who under Nicholas II was just an ensign.

For 55 years, the Soviet army existed without the institution of ensigns, and only on January 1, 1972, by order of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, this rank returned to the armed forces of the country. The military department considered that the posts held by foremen and junior lieutenants could be occupied by a separate category of servicemen — warrant officers (in the midshipman fleet). Thus, it turned out that the ensign is a separate type of military personnel, not belonging to either soldiers or officers, but at the same time clearly indicating the border between them.

Another attempt to get rid of ensigns

In December 2008, Anatoly Serdyukov, who at that time was the Minister of Defense, again decided to liquidate the institution of ensigns, hoping that they could be replaced by sergeants-contractors with higher education. At the same time, having dismissed from the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces about 140, 000 military men who are in the rank of “ensign”. But Sergey Shoigu, who replaced Serdyukov in April 2013, canceled this decision.

However, the staff list was specially revised specifically for warrant officers with the special wish of the new Moscow Region - “no warehouses and bases”.

New staffing for warrant officers

Designed specifically for warrant officers (warrant officers), the new staffing table included about a hundred posts, all of which were “combat” ones. Which are generally divided into two groups:

Commander (commanders: platoons, battle groups, combat posts, vehicles).
Technical (electrician, head of the radio station, head of the repair shop, head of the technical assembly, etc.).

That is, all the posts that Serdyukov decided to make sergeant from December 1, while absolutely not taking into account the fact that they require a special secondary professional education. The Defense Ministry, led by Shoigu, corrected this by giving the sergeant staff the posts to which their prof. training (commander of a squad, combat vehicle, deputy commander of a platoon, etc.).

But even without warehouses it was not without. The post of "warehouse manager" for ensigns nevertheless remained, only now it concerned exclusively combat depots - weapons. As for clothing and grocery, it was decided to give them in service to civilian specialists.

How to get the rank of ensign in the army

At present, there are 13 ensign schools in Russia, which train specialists for the armed forces. Therefore, to receive the rank of “ensign” in the army, you can use the following methods:

To join the army for military service. There, having shown himself on the good side, to make a written request to the command of the unit about sending warrant officers to study at the school. But there is one caveat. As a rule, the command considers the reports of only those servicemen who have already served more than half the due date.
If the conscript is already behind him, and the reserve soldier has a desire to re-join the army on a contract basis, he can immediately declare his desire to enroll in the warrant officer’s school without first being sent to the military unit.
After the conclusion of the contract, submit a report on the desire to study at the warrant officer school directly to the commander of his unit.

Also, at some universities, admission of cadets is allowed, who, even without having completed military service, but having enrolled and unlearned at the university under the program of secondary special education, are issued with the rank of ensign. So, the Strategic Missile Forces Academy is preparing driver-mechanics for mobile missile systems, since it is planned to completely exclude the use of sergeant personnel in this position.

Dates of training at the ensign school

The duration of schooling directly depends on the military profession chosen by the cadet. They can be 5-10 months if the cadet has already served military service and already has a profile specialty.

In the case of starting training “from scratch” (the cadet enrolled in studies without completing military service or does not have a specialized military specialty), the term can reach up to 2 years 10 months.