Vladimir Masorin

Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Vasilyevich Masorin (born 24 August 1947) is a retired Russian naval officer who was Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy from 2005 to 2007. He was previously the Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy Commander-in-Chief in 2005, and commanded the Black Sea Fleet from 2002 to 2005 and the Caspian Flotilla from 1996 to 2002. He was commissioned from the Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School in Crimea in 1970, and commanded two destroyers, a destroyer brigade, and a squadron before reaching higher command. Masorin also graduated from the Grechko Naval Academy and the Russian General Staff Academy. As the head of the Russian navy he oversaw increased cooperation with NATO countries, for which he was made a Commander of the Legion of Merit by the United States.

Early naval service Masorin was born on 25 August 1947 in Bely, Kalinin Oblast (modern-day Bely, Tver Oblast), in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. He graduated from the Nakhimov Black Sea Higher Naval School in Sevastopol, Crimean Oblast, in 1970. His later military education included the Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy in 1977, the Grechko Naval Academy in 1986, and the General Staff Academy in 1993.

He served as principal warfare officer on the of the Northern Fleet. In 1977 he completed additional officer training and became executive officer of the Kashin-class destroyer . In November 1980 he became commanding officer of the , and the ship underwent sea trials under his command, before joining the 56th Destroyer Brigade of the Northern Fleet. Not long after that he commanded the . He was in that post until 4 September 2005, when he was appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, succeeding Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov. Masorin assumed command of the Navy in the wake of several high-profile accidents and after years of under-maintenance of the fleet due to a lack of funding. He acknowledged that the Navy's inadequate ability to respond to accidents and also called for a reduced fleet, centered around submarine and nuclear forces as opposed to a large ocean-going navy as had been advocated by Kuroyedov. He was also promoted to admiral of the fleet after becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

Masorin reviews the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard in Washington Masorin (right) with Mike Mullen, the U.S. Navy's Chief of Naval Operations During his tenure as Commander-in-Chief, the Russian Navy in 2006 began preparing its naval base in Tartus Governorate, Syria, for the deployment of a naval task force there for the first time since 1991. In 2007 a large naval exercise was carried out in that area involving the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. In late 2005 and early 2006, during a controversy between Russia and Ukraine over basing rights in Crimea, Masorin said that the Black Sea Fleet will continue to use the facility until at least 2017.

In June 2007, he announced that the Navy will not have conscripts in sea-going roles after 2009, which will be filled by volunteer enlisted sailors, but will have them in shore-based roles.

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 Chief of Naval Operations Michael Mullen, for meritorious conduct to increase cooperation and interoperability with the U.S. Navy and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from September 2005 to August 2007. Under his leadership the Russian Federation's navy participated in operation 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, Northern Eagle FRUKUS and Pacific Eagle. 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.

Admiral of the Fleet Masorin retired on 13 September 2007, not long after reaching his 60th birthday, the normal retirement age, and was succeeded by Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky.

Personal life He is married and has two sons.

Foreign Legion of Merit