The military department (Russian: военная кафедра) is a division within civilian university or other higher education institution, intended for training commissioned officers from among students, widespread in Soviet Union and Post-Soviet states.

The similar phenomenon known as military faculty (Russian: военный факультет) or faculty of military training (Russian: факультет военного обучения) exists in some post-Soviet states. A faculty of military training is a division within civilian university composed of two or more military departments conducting training in different fields of military science.

Reserve Officer Training in Soviet Union was officially established in 1927.^[1] According to the Soviet Union Law about compulsory military service of 13 August 1930 No.42/253б, this training was known as higher non-inside-military-unit training, and a list of civilian universities conducting this training was approved by People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs.^[2] The first list existed in 1927.^[3]

Initially, the officer, responsible for conducting the higher non-inside-military-unit training in civilian university, was named "military head" (Russian: военный руководитель). The first congress of these military heads was held in 1927.^[4] The term "military department" appeared later, when Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union Decree of 13 April 1944 No.413 was promulgated.^[5][6]

With the enactment of the Soviet Union Law about universal military duty of 12 October 1967 No.1950-VII,^[7] reserve officer training conducting by military departments of civilian higher education institutions became mandatory for all students of institutions that had such departments. In 1960-70's, the numbers of universities with military departments were increased to 497, the annual number of graduates was about 170.000, approximately 30% of which drafted into active duty.^[8] The number of civilian institutions of higher education which had military departments were decreased to 397 by 1990.^[9]

Typical Soviet military department had following structure:

• Head of military department (usually with the rank of colonel)
• Deputy head of military department (usually with the rank of lieutenant colonel or colonel)
  • Chief of educational unit (usually with the rank of major or lieutenant colonel)
    • Chief of training cycle (usually with the rank of major)
      • two or more teachers in each cycle (usually with the rank of captain or major)
  • Chief of logistic and educational process supporting unit (usually with the rank of major or lieutenant colonel)
    • personnel of logistic and educational process supporting unit (military and civilian)
• secretary-clerk (civilian)

• Anatoly Kvashnin (1946-2022) graduated from the Kurgan Machine Building Institute with specialist degree in engineering and the military department of this institute in 1969, received his officer commission as a lieutenant. He drafted into active duty in July of the same year. Subsequently, after the ending of his conscript military service, he decided to stay in armed forces as volunteer and rose to the position of Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces and the military rank of Army General.