The article gives a historical and pedagogical characteristic of the stages of the process of educating professional duty among future officers in military educational institutions of Russia in the early XVIII — early XX centuries. The components of the system of spiritual and moral values of students in Russian military schools of the studied period are reflected. The influence of the spiritual and moral values of society, the state and the armed forces of various historical stages of the formation of the Russian army and navy on the process of educating the professional duty of future defenders of the Fatherland is determined.