Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Vasilyevich Masorin (russian: Владимир Васильевич Масорин; born August 24, 1947) is a retired

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

who commanded the

Caspian Flotilla Kaspiyskaya flotiliya , image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla , dates = No ...

in 1996–2002 and the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

in 2002–2005. In September 2005, he was appointed the Commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy. The newspaper Kommersant speculated that Admiral Masorin was a temporary appointment until the new Chief of the Main Naval Staff, appointed at the same time, took command of the Navy. Masorin completed the P.S. Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School in 1970. He served as

principal warfare officer A principal warfare officer (PWO), is one of a number of warfare branch specialist officers. Australia In Australia, a PWO is a Royal Australian Navy officer who has completed PWO training. The Australian PWO course is delivered at HMAS ''Wats ...

on the

Kashin class destroyer The Kashin class, Soviet designation Project 61, were series of anti-aircraft guided-missile destroyers built for the Soviet Navy since the 1960s. , no ships remain in service with the Russian Navy, but three modified ships continue in service ...

''Smyshleny'' of the Northern Fleet. In 1977 he completed additional officer training and became executive officer of the Kashin class destroyer ''Ognevoy''. In 1980 he became commanding officer of the

Sovremennyy class destroyer The ''Sovremenny'' class, Soviet designation Project 956 ''Sarych'' ( buzzard), is a class of anti-ship and anti-aircraft guided-missile destroyers of the Soviet and later Russian Navy. The ships are named after qualities, with "Sovremenny" t ...

''Otchayannyy'' and in 1983 Masorin became chief of staff of the Northern Fleet's destroyer squadron. After completing the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy Masorin was promoted to commander of the Northern Fleet's destroyer squadron. Following completion of the General Staff Academy, Masorin was promoted to commander of the

Caspian Flotilla Kaspiyskaya flotiliya , image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla , dates = No ...

in 1996 and the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

in 2002. Masorin was promoted to commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy and to the rank of fleet admiral in 2005. On August 24, 2007, Masorin became the first Russian recipient of the Legion of Merit (Commander) from the United States. His award was conferred by

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a mem ...

Michael Mullen, for meritorious conduct to increase cooperation and interoperability with the

and the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two Nor ...

from September 2005 to August 2007. Under his leadership the Russian Federation's navy participated in Active Endeavor, a NATO maritime counter-terrorism operation in the Mediterranean Sea. He consistently advocated continued Russian participation in the joint and combined military exercises including

BALTOPS BALTOPS (Baltic Operations) is an annual military exercise, held and sponsored by the Commander, United States Naval Forces Europe, since 1971, in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it. The purpose of BALTOPS is to train gunnery, repleni ...

, Northern Eagle FRUKUS and Pacific Eagle. One July 10, 2006 Masorin was onboard a Russian Navy operated Tupolev Tu134 which crashed on takeoff from Gvardeyskoye AFB, Simferapol. He, along with the 27 other occupants survived the crash and subsequent fire. His visit to Washington, D.C. during which he received the Legion of Merit was first official visit of a Russian Federation Navy Commander-in-Chief in eleven years. His predecessors as Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief previously making official visits to Washington were Fleet Admirals Vladimir Chernavin and Felix Gromov. Fleet Admiral Masorin retired in late 2007 after reaching his 60th birthday. Masorin remains as advisor on the staff of the Russian Minister of Defense. He is married with two sons.

Links and sources

*http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=1&id=606050 *http://www.mil-embedded.com/news/db/?7815 {{DEFAULTSORT:Masorin, Vladimir 1947 births Living people Russian admirals Commanders-in-chief of the Russian Navy Soviet Navy personnel Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Russia) Commanders of the Legion of Merit