Channa Gunathilaka

Last updated
Channa Gunathilaka
Service/branch Sri Lanka Army
Years of service1981-
Rank Major General
Unit Sri Lanka Engineers
Commands held Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force,
Security Forces Headquarters – Central,
Security Forces Headquarters – Kilinochchi,
56th Infantry Division
Battles/wars Sri Lankan Civil War,
Insurrection 1987-89
Awards Rana Sura Padakkama,
Uttama Seva Padakkama

Major General Channa Gunathilaka, RSP, USP, ndc, psc, SLE (born 1963) was a senior general of the Sri Lanka Army, who was the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. He was the former Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force, Security Force Commander (Central), Military Secretary, Security Force Commander (Kilinochchi), GOC - 56th Infantry Division, GOC - Mannar. [1] [2]

Educated at St. Benedict's College, Colombo and at the Royal College, Colombo, Gunathilaka went on to join the Sri Lanka Army in August 1981. Undergoing basic training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa, he won the “Sword of Honour” as the Best All Round Officer Cadet in his batch and was commissioned into the Sri Lanka Engineers as a Second Lieutenant. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Command And Staff College, Mirpur and the National Defence University, Pakistan where he gained a master's degree in Defence and Strategic Studies.

Serving with the Sri Lanka Engineers throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War, he went on to serve as the Commanding Officer of the 7th Field Engineer Regiment and Brigade Commander of the 551 Infantry Brigade and the 533 Infantry Brigade. He also served as the General Officer Commanding of the Mannar District and the 56th Infantry Division. He was also the Commander of the Security Forces Headquarters – Kilinochchi and Security Forces Headquarters – Central. At Army Headquarters he served as the Military Secretary of the General Staff and Director General Doctrine and Training as well as Director General, General Staff at the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff. General Gunathilaka has been awarded the Rana Sura Padakkama, Uttama Seva Padakkama, and the Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal among other medals.

In 2000, under a government initiative, he was instrumental in forming the Youth Corps. In 2014 he was awarded the “HR Leadership Award” at the Asia Pacific Human Resource Management Congress Awards in Bangalore.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parami Kulatunga</span> Sri Lankan army general

Lieutenant General Parami Sudammika Bandara Kulatunga, RSP, VSV, USP was a Sri Lanka Army general. He was serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and its third highest-ranking officer at the time of his assassination. On the morning of 26 June, he was killed by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who drove an explosives laden motorbike into his staff car as it was driving to a military base at Pannipitiya near Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka Armoured Corps</span> Military unit

The Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC) provides the armour capability of the Sri Lanka Army, with vehicles such as the T-55AM2, and type 80/88 main battle tanks; the BMP infantry fighting vehicle; and the BTR-80, and WZ551 armoured personnel carriers. It comprises five regular armoured regiments, a volunteer regiment, and a regimental band. It has an independent Armoured Brigade and is headquartered at Rock House Army Camp, Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jagath Jayasuriya</span> Sri Lanka Army general

General Jagath Jayasuriya, VSV, USP is a retired senior Sri Lanka Army general; he was the Chief of Defence Staff, the head of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces as a Full General from 1 August 2013 to 15 June 2015 and Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, the head of the army as a Lieutenant General from 15 July 2009 to 31 July 2013. During the closing stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War, he served as the Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni with overall command of SLA offensives in the Wanni region during the 2008 - 2009 period. He was also the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Suriname from June 2014 to August 2017.

Major General Nandana Udawatta, RSP, USP, psc, SLAC is a Sri Lankan general. He has served as the Master General Ordnance, Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna, Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Mullaittivu and was the general officer commanding, 59 Division during the SLA offensives in the Wanni region during 2008 - 2009 period that led to a major victory for the SLA over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Sri Lankan civil war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. A. Chandrasiri</span> Sri Lankan army general, politician

Major General Gammanpila Arachchige Chandrasiri, RWP, USP, ndc, psc, SLAC was a Sri Lankan senior army general and a provincial governor. He is the Governor of Northern Province. He was the former Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna ; General Officer Commanding, 52 Division;, Director General - General Staff, Joint Operations Headquarters; Brigade Commander Armoured Brigade, and Commander, Area Headquarters Mannar.

Major General M.C. Mendaka. P. Samarasinghe, RWP, RSP, USP, ndc, psc, SLE was a Sri Lankan general and former Chief of Staff, Sri Lanka Army and also the former Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna; he was also the General Officer Commanding, 22 Division.

General Shantha H.S. Kottegoda, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired senior Sri Lanka Army general. He was the seventeenth commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1 July 2004 – 5 December 2005. He had served as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil and Thailand. In April 2019, following the Easter Sunday bombings he was appointed as the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence.

Major General Gemunu Kulatunge, RSP, USP, ndc, psc (1941-2003) was a Sri Lankan army general, who was the former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army.

Major General T. N. De Silva, USP is a former Sri Lanka Army general, who was the former General Officer Commanding, 21 Division;, Commandant, Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force, Brigade Commander Armoured Brigade and Director, National Cadet Corps.

Major General Athula Jayawardane, RSP, USP, ndc, SLA was a Sri Lankan army general, who was the former Commander Security Forces Headquarters – Mullaitivu (SFHQ-MLT); Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN); Director General Rehabilitation; Master-General of the Ordnance; Director Operations, General Staff; GOC, 21 Division; Brigade Commander, Artillery Brigade, 551 Infantry Brigade and 215 Infantry Brigade. He was also the military attaché to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Brigadier H. A. Nihal Hapuarachchi, RSP, psc, SLE is a Sri Lankan Army officer and a military engineer, who is the current military spokesman, former Brigade Commander, 51-3 Brigade and Commandant, School of Military Engineering. He was also the former Director Recruitment

G. D. H. Kamal Gunaratne, WWV, RWP, RSP, USP is a retired Sri Lankan army general. He is the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and the State Ministry of National Security and Disaster Management. A retired career officer of the Sri Lanka Army, Gunaratne had served as the former Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni, general officer commanding (GOC), 53 Division and was a former Deputy Ambassador to Brazil. He was the GOC of the 53 Division which killed the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran at Nandikadal, Mullaitivu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crishanthe de Silva</span> Sri Lanka Army general

General Akurathiya Withanage Jagath Crishanthe de Silva, RWP, USP is a former senior Sri Lanka Army general and military engineer. He had served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 22 February 2015 to 4 July 2017, as the Chief of Defence Staff from 29 June 2017 to 21 August 2017. Later he was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

General N.U.M. Mahesh W. Senanayke, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired Sri Lankan Army general who served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 2017 to 2019. Senanayake had previously been the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna, General Officer Commanding, 52 Division and Brigade Commander, Special Forces Brigade. Having started his military career as a military engineer, Senanayake became a special forces officer and is a veteran of all four phases of the Sri Lankan Civil War, he has served in both its Northern and Eastern theaters. Following his retirement, he contested the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election and came fourth after the three candidates of the three major political parties in the island.

Major General Priyanka Fernando, RWP, USP, is a former senior Sri Lanka Army general. He has served as the Director General of General Staff (DGGS); General officer commanding (GOC), 58 Division; Commandant of the Ranaviru (veterans) Resource Centre; Director of Rehabilitation; and the Director of Real Estate and Quartering. He served as the Colonel of the Regiment of the Mechanized Infantry Regiment and was the Sri Lankan Minister Counsellor (Defence) in London.

Major General A. K. Sumedha Perera, WWV, RWP, RSP, USP is a retired Sri Lankan general. He is the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Mahaweli, Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Development; and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army.

Major General Jagath Gunawardena, RSP, VSV, USP was a Sri Lankan senior army general. He was the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army, having served as the Commandant of the Volunteer Force, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – Wanni and Master General of Ordnance. He served as the Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Engineers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prasanna Chandrasekera</span> Sri Lankan army general

Major general Prasanna Chandrasekera, is a retired Sri Lankan Army general. He was the former Master-General of the Ordnance of the Sri Lankan Army, During the Sri Lankan civil war he was the Brigade Commander, 65 Division of the Kilinochchi District.

Lieutenant General H.L.V.M. Liyanage, widely known as Vikum Liyanage, is a Sri Lanka Army General. He is the current Commander of the Sri Lanka Army serving from 1 June 2022. Prior to become the army commander, he was the 59th Chief of Staff of the Army. On 1 June 2022, Liyanage assumed as the 24th Commander of Sri Lanka Army. Earlier, he served as the Commandant, Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force as a Major General.

References