sergeant ranks to veteran soldiers, the Soviet ranks of starshina and sergeant were routinely assigned to 20-year-old soldiers at the end of their 2-year draft. The praporshchiks were aged volunteers and were expected to have more authority over draftsmen than similarly aged sergeants; they are placed in a separate category of "master non-commissioned officers" (praporshchik and michman). See further commentary on the rank at Carey Schofield, Inside the Soviet Army, Headline Book Publishing, 1991, where long-service praporshchiks' scrounging and repair skills were celebrated. Sleeve insignia Carey Schofield's Inside the Soviet Army c. 1990 provides a good description of the place of the praporshchik within the Soviet military system. Praporshchik rank of the Russian Federation The rank continues to be used in the armies of ex-Soviet states. Modern Russian praporshchiks and michmans represent a separate category of military personnel. According to their official position, duties and rights, they occupy a position close to junior officers, being the officers' closest assistants, as well as supervisors for the soldiers (sailors) and sergeants (petty officers) of the their units. Since the beginning of 2009, a phased liquidation of the institution of praporshchiks and michmans started in the Russian Armed Forces. It was assumed that the praporshchiks will be replaced by professional contract sergeants, the federal target program for the training of which has already been approved. “The institute of praporshchiks, which numbered 142 thousand people, has been liquidated in the army,” General of the Army Nikolai Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, assured. “We had 142 thousand praporshchiks. As of December 1, 2009, not a single one was left. " Approximately 20 thousand praporshchiks who were in command positions were appointed, the rest were discharged from service or transferred to NCO positions. According to the assumption, since January-March December 2010 no new praporshchiks or senior praporshchiks were appointed, but the service members who had these ranks were allowed to serve out the remainder of their contracts, retaining their ranks and rank insignia. At the same time, the abolition of the institute of praporshchiks did not affect the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Border Service, the FSB, the FSO, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other military formations other than the Ministry of Defense of Russia; in addition, there is a special rank of praporshchik in law enforcement agencies. On February 27, 2013, at an expanded