Warrant officer schools of the Russian Armed Forces

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Warrant officer schools of the Russian Armed Forces train people to become warrant officers (praporshchik/michman). The education is vocational military training. The program lasts about 2 years and 6–10 months, and graduates receive the rank of warrant officer.

The schools were created in 1980 by a Defense Ministry order. Initially, only enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers who had completed service as conscripts could enter, and training lasted about 10.5 months. In 2004 a new order changed the admissions rules. Later, during the Serdyukov reform, all warrant officer schools stopped operating.

In 2013, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu revived the institution, creating new warrant officer positions. Training began again in special divisions within higher military schools and academies. The length remained about 2 years 6–10 months. Admissions were widened to include active-duty enlisted personnel and NCOs (volunteers and conscripts) and civilian graduates of secondary schools who could be directly commissioned into the warrant officer corps.