The social structure of the armed forces is being transformed in the direction of deepening the division of military labor, civil-military convergence, gender integration and professionalization of non-commissioned officers. These changes are reflected in the military professional education system as a social institution for the reproduction of the Army’s social structure. The article attempts to highlight the display of new trends in the transformation of the social structure of the armed forces by the military establishment. There are presented the results of content analysis of interviews with officials of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation on the problems of military professional education in Russia from 2009 to 2020. The authors reveal the intraprofessional differentiation of military professionals in terms of the labor content into unique military commanders and those who have a great similarity with civil engineers and other professionals. In the view of the military establishment, military education is still intended to reproduce the traditional social structure of the armed forces, developing in cadets commanding, moral and psychological qualities that are not available to civilian specialists. Civil universities are perceived by experts as a reserve source of training military personnel in times of crisis. The social request to integrate women into the military profession does not find a response in the military department, experts often support gender segregation in the army. Attempts to strengthen the professional status of sergeants, warrant officers and midshipmen by providing them with secondary vocational education rather contribute to the marginalization of this category of military personnel.