The president of Sri Lanka is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union government and the commander-in-chief of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The president appoints the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
The title chief of staff identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide-de-camp to an important individual, such as a president, or a senior military officer, or leader of a large organization.
A quartermaster general is the staff officer in charge of supplies for a whole army and is in charge of quartermaster units and personnel, i.e. those tasked with providing supplies for military forces and units.
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.
The following tables present the ranks and insignia of the Sri Lanka Navy. These ranks are similar to Royal Naval officer ranks and the ratings ranks. Sri Lanka does have an Admiral rank, but it is usually only awarded to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) or as an honorary rank; Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda was the only Sri Lankan naval officer to hold a full admiral rank while in active service.
The Ministry of Defence is the cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for implementation of government defence policy and acts as the overall headquarters of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
The Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) is an infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army; it is the second oldest infantry regiment in the army.
The Commander of the Air Force is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Air Force. The current Commander of the Air Force is Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. It is a position comparable to that of Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Force. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force acts as a deputy commander within the command structure.
The Order of Precedence in Sri Lanka the protocol list at which Sri Lankan government officials are seated according to their rank. This is not the list of succession.
The Army Headquarters is the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army and is located in the Defence Headquarters Complex in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. It was established on 1 October 1949 in the Echelon Barracks which was the headquarters of the British Army in Ceylon. It later moved to the Rifle Barracks and then to the Old Army Headquarters Complex, before moving to the new Defence Headquarters Complex.
Major General Sarath Munasinghe, was a senior Sri Lanka Army office and politician. He had served Commander Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna and following his retirement, went on to be elected as Member of Parliament of Kurunegala District and Deputy speaker and chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
The National Defence College, located in New Delhi, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Defence Service and the Civil Services. This is a very prestigious course attended only by a few hand-picked defence officers of One-Star rank and civil servants of the rank of Joint secretary to the Government of India. Each year, approximately 25 officers from friendly foreign countries like the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, UAE and others attend the course.
General Shavendra Silva, is a Sri Lanka Army four star general who is the current Chief of Defence Staff, the head of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces serving from 1 January 2020. He also served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 19 August 2019 to 31 May 2022. His other important appointments include, Chief of Staff of the army, Adjutant General and Director of Operations of the Army. During the Sri Lankan civil war he gained fame as the General Officer Commanding of the elite 58 Division. He had also served as the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Headquarters.
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.
General Lionel Piyananda Balagalle,, was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer, who served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and the Chief of the Defence Staff. He is known for formalising military intelligence operations within the Sri Lanka Army, having founded the Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Military Intelligence Corps.
General Chandrika Srilal Weerasooriya or 'C.S. Weerasooriya', RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired Sri Lankan Army General. He was the 15th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1998-2000) and a former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (2000-2007)
General Akurathiya Withanage Jagath Crishanthe de Silva, RWP, USP is a retired senior Sri Lanka Army officer. 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.
Chief of Staff of the Army (CoSA) has been the title of the second in command of the Sri Lanka Army. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of major general and is the second senior position in the army. Chief of staff is charged with assisting the Army Commander in both operational and administrative aspects, functioning as the Acting Army Commander in his absences or incantation. Chief of staff is assisted by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army.
Major General Rasika Fernando, RSP, ndc was a Sri Lankan senior army general. He was the Deputy Chief of Staff of Sri Lankan Army, having served as the, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – East. He is the Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka National Guard.
