Commander of the Army (Sri Lanka)

Commander of the Army is the title of the professional head of the Sri Lanka Army. The current Commander of the Army is Lt. General Mahesh Senanayake.[1] It is a position comparable to that of Chief of the General Staff of the British Army.

The post traces its roots to the post of General Officer Commanding, Ceylon, which was the title of the General Officer Commanding of the British Army units in Ceylon prior to independence in 1948. After the formation of the Ceylon Army in 1949, its first commanding officer was of the rank of Brigadier, hence the title Commander of the Ceylon Army was formally adopted although it was at times referred as General Officer Commanding, Ceylon as far as the 1960s. Brig. Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness was the first holder of the appointment of the Commander of the army of independent Sri Lanka (then Ceylon).

In the recent past serving army commanders have been of the rank of Lieutenant General, promoted to the honorary rank of General when retiring or promoted to Chief of Defence Staff, except in the case of Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka in which case he was made General when he was still the Commander of the Army. Denis Perera was promoted to full general in 2007 (after 26 years of retirement) by then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.[2]

List of Commanders

No. Portrait Rank Name Appointment Left office Unit Decorations
1 Brigadier Roderick Sinclair, Earl of Caithness 10 October 1949 17 May 1952 Gordon Highlanders CBE, DSO
2 Brigadier Sir Francis S. Reid 18 May 1952 8 February 1955 Royal Artillery CBE
3 Major General Anton Muttukumaru 9 February 1955 31 December 1959 Ceylon Light Infantry OBE, ED, ADC
4 Major General H. W. G. Wijeyekoon 1 January 1960 31 December 1963 Ceylon Light Infantry OBE, ED
5 Major General Deshamanya Richard Udugama 1 January 1964 10 November 1966 Ceylon Light Infantry MBE
6 Major General Bertram Heyn 11 November 1966 30 September 1967 Ceylon Light Infantry
7 General Deshamanya Sepala Attygalle 1 October 1967 13 October 1977 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps LVO, ADC
8 General Deshamanya Denis Perera 14 October 1977 13 October 1981 Sri Lanka Engineers VSV
9 General Tissa Weeratunga 14 October 1981 11 February 1985 Gemunu Watch VSV
10 General Nalin Seneviratne 12 February 1985 15 August 1988 Sri Lanka Engineers VSV
11 General Hamilton Wanasinghe 16 August 1988 15 November 1991 Sri Lanka Artillery VSV
12 General Cecil Waidyaratne 16 November 1991 31 December 1993 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps VSV
13 General G. H. De Silva 1 January 1994 30 April 1996 Gemunu Watch RWP, VSV, USP
14 General Rohan Daluwatte 1 May 1996 15 December 1998 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
15 General C. S. Weerasooriya 16 December 1998 24 August 2000 Sri Lanka Artillery RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
16 General L. P. Balagalle 25 August 2000 30 June 2004 Sri Lanka Artillery RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP
17 General Shantha Kottegoda 1 July 2004 5 December 2005 Sri Lanka Light Infantry WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP
18 Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka 6 December 2005 15 July 2009 Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
19 General Jagath Jayasuriya 15 July 2009 1 August 2013 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps VSP, USP
20 General Daya Ratnayake 1 August 2013 21 February 2015 Sri Lanka Light Infantry WWV, RWP, RSP, USP
21 General Crishantha de Silva 22 February 2015 4 July 2017 Sri Lanka Engineers RWP, USP
22 Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake 4 July 2017 present Sri Lanka Engineers RWP, USP

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Mahesh-Senanayaka-new-Army-Commander-132121.html
  2. ↑ http://www.sundaytimes.lk/071111/News/news00022.html
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