Senior midshipman and midshipman belong to the NCO hierarchy, while starshina titles are inconsistently rendered as senior, elder, or older across sources and periods. A Russian naval specialist cautioned that the preferred translation changes with the era and source rather than following one fixed rule. Sailor grades were closely associated with the Soviet conscript pipeline. Professional retention moved personnel into an NCO structure described here as having suffered sustained abuse and weakness.
Chapter · 1:29:40-1:32:56
Russian midshipmen are senior NCOs, not cadets
Russian lower-deck terminology reverses an English expectation by placing midshipmen among senior non-commissioned personnel.