Introduction. One of the tasks of modern education is the formation of the competencies of the «Systemic and Critical Thinking» group. Theoretical analysis. The article reveals the meaning of the concept of critical thinking, highlights its components and substantiates the significance of the development of this thinking in the cadets of the preparatory course, since it is during this period that the skills of working with scientific literature written in Russian are laid. Empirical analysis. These methods and techniques of working with didactic material based on the texts of the disciplines of the professional cycle made it possible to increase not only interest in learning the Russian language, but also to prepare students for the analytical reading of textbooks, which contributes to the development of critical thinking. Conclusion. The article presents arguments proving the importance of the development of critical thinking in military personnel, since the study of scientific and methodological literature led to the conclusion that, first of all, grammatical skills are formed in the process of learning a language as a foreign one. Examples of tasks that form and develop the components of critical thinking are given, the methods used in the process of studying Russian as a foreign language are briefly substantiated, the purpose and objectives of studying this discipline are indicated. The article is advisory in nature, and its relevance is justified by the requirements of the educational standard of the specialty “Flight Operation and Application of Aviation Complexes”.