Midshipman
Midshipman was a Starfleet designation for an officer cadet; a student at Starfleet Academy in training to become a commissioned officer. In 2285, the rank of midshipman was divided into at least two grades: midshipman and midshipman first class.

James T. Kirk was a midshipman at Starfleet Academy when he met his friend Lieutenant Benjamin Finney, an instructor at the time. ()

The term of "dunsel" was used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy to describe a piece of equipment which served no useful purpose. ()

Midshipman First Class Peter Preston was an engineer's mate aboard the  during its Starfleet Academy training cruise in 2285. ()

Appendices

Background information 
In ultimately excised dialogue from the final revised draft script of , Kirk was referred to as having been a midshipman even shortly after leaving the Academy. One of the scripted references to Kirk having been a midshipman was even included in a deleted scene from "The Conscience of the King", which referred to him as having held the rank at the time of a massacre on Tarsus IV. ("Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor", Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features)

Apocrypha 
Several non-canon reference manuals, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual, have attempted to explain the difference between midshipman and cadet with the common reasoning being that cadet is the standard training rank at Starfleet Academy with midshipman a rank held during advanced leadership studies or in a fifth year status. Regardless of the difference, later Star Trek series have never mentioned the rank of midshipman.

External link

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Military ranks
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