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Prasanna Wickramasuriya | |
---|---|
Born | Matara, Sri Lanka |
Allegiance | Sri Lanka |
Service/ | Sri Lanka Army |
Years of service | 1981 - 1998 |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Unit | Gajaba Regiment |
Commands held | 1st Gajaba Regiment |
Battles/wars | Eelam War I Eelam War II Eelam War III |
Awards | Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya Rana Wickrama Padakkama Rana Sura Padakkama |
Relations | Mahinda Rajapaksa Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Basil Rajapaksa Chamal Rajapaksa Jaliya Wickramasuriya |
Other work | Chairman, Airport and Aviation Services Limited Sri Lanka |
Lieutenant Colonel Prasanna Wickramasuriya, WWV, RWP, RSP is a highly decorated (retired) Sri Lanka Army officer who served as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. As a two-time recipient of the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya (WWV), the highest wartime military decoration awarded non-posthumously by Sri Lanka, Wickramasuriya is one of the most highly decorated Sri Lankan military officers.
During Wickramasuriya's tenure as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd., he oversaw the construction and development of Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, Sri Lanka’s second international airport.
Wickramasuriya was born in Matara to a family descending from local headmen. [1] [2] He is the younger son of Pema and Kamala Wickramasuriya née Rajapaksa, daughter of D. M. Rajapaksa, and he is a first cousin of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served as President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015. Jaliya Wickramasuriya is his elder brother, and he was the brother-in-law of Colonel A. F. Lafir. He was educated at Nalanda College, Colombo.
Having joined the army after completing his schooling as a cadet officer, he underwent officer training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy at Diyatalawa. Completing his training in 1983, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Rajarata Rifles. Following the disbanding of the Rajarata Rifles, he was transferred to the newly formed Gajaba Regiment. There he served as special operations platoon commander, platoon commander in operations in Jaffna with the onset of the Tamil Militancy and took part in the Vadamarachchi Operation, when he was shot in the chest and evacuated by air to the Military Hospital in Pallali. In 1994, while serving as the adjutant of the Kotelawala Defence Academy, he was able to detect by chance a LTTE suicide bomber cell in Colombo. In 1997, as a battalion commander of the 1st Gajaba Regiment, he took part in the Operation Jayasikurui and was present at the Thandikulam–Omanthai offensive. He retired from the army in 1998 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and during his career, he had been awarded Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya two times, Rana Wickrama Padakkama, Rana Sura Padakkama and the Desha Putra Sammanaya. [3]
Following his retirement from the army, Wickramasuirya worked with his brother in exporting tea. He was appointed as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services Limited by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010. [4]
Major General Vanigamuni Indrajith Vijeyakumar Mendis Wimalaratne, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. One of the most distinguished field commanders in Sri Lanka, Wimalaratne raised the Gajaba Regiment, he commanded the 1st Brigade during the Vadamarachchi Operation, he commanded the Amphibious Task Force Commander during Operation Balavegaya and was the Commander Security Forces – Jaffna at the time of his death in a land mine explosion at Point Arali in the Kayts Island while making preparations to re-capture Jaffna.
The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV) is Sri Lanka's highest military decoration, awarded for acts of exceptional valour in wartime. Parama Weera Vibhushanaya translates as the "Order of the Ultimate Brave", and the award is granted for "individual acts of gallantry and conspicuous bravery of the most exceptional order in the face of the enemy". Corporal Gamini Kularatne, was the first recipient. As of January 2021, the medal has been awarded 31 times, of which all were posthumous and arose from actions in the Sri Lankan Civil War. Of the 31 awardees, 28 have been from the Sri Lanka Army, two have been from the Sri Lanka Navy and one has been from the Sri Lanka Air Force.
The Weerodara Vibhushanaya is the second-highest decoration awarded by the Military of Sri Lanka awarded for:
...individual acts of gallantry and conspicuous bravery of a non-military nature of the most exceptional order performed voluntarily with no regard to his own life and security with the objective of saving or safeguarding the life or lives of a person or personnel imperiled by death or for a meritorious act or a series of acts of a humane nature of an exceptional order displayed in saving life from drowning, fire and rescue operations in mines, floods and similar calamities under circumstances of grave bodily injury or great danger to the life of the rescuer...
The Sri Lanka Signals Corps (SLSC) is a combat support corps of the Sri Lanka Army, responsible for providing military communications, information technology and electronic warfare support. The corps is made up of a signals brigade, ten regular regiments and one volunteer regiment. It is responsible for installing, maintaining and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems. It is headquartered at the Panagoda Cantonment.
Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Kumar Jayadeva Karannagoda, RSP, VSV, USP, MRIN, MNI is a Sri Lankan naval officer. He served as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy during the last phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War and Governor of North Western Province, Sri Lanka from 2021 to 2023.
The Gajaba Regiment (GR) is an elite infantry regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Formed on 14 October 1983 at the Saliyapura Camp in Anuradhapura, it is named after the famous Sinhalese King Gajabahu the First. It consists of 14 regular battalions and 6 volunteer battalions.
Colonel Aslam Fazly Laphir, PWV, RWP, RSP, SF was a Sri Lankan Army officer and posthumous recipient of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV). He was awarded the PWV for his actions leading the 1st Special Forces Regiment during the Battle of Mullaitivu in which he was killed. Colonel Laphir played a major role in the formation and development of the Special Forces Regiment from the original Combat Tracker Team.
Lieutenant Colonel J.A.L Jayasinghe PWV, WWV, RWP, RSP was a special forces officer in the Sri Lanka Army, who was posthumously awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV) the highest award for combat bravery in Sri Lanka.
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 officer. 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 Rohan De Silva Daluwatte, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP was a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Army. He served as Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and Chief of the Defence Staff. Following his retirement from the army, he served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil among other appointments.
Wing Commander Tyron D. S. Silvapulle, PWV, RWP, RSP was a Sri Lankan pilot. He distinguished himself as a capable helicopter pilot in the Sri Lanka Air Force during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Silvapulle was killed in action in northern Sri Lanka, and posthumously awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, the country's highest military award for gallantry. To date, he is the only recipient of the award from the Sri Lanka Air Force.
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.
General R. M. Daya Ratnayake, WWV, RWP and three Bars, RSP, USP is a retired Sri Lanka Army officer who served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 2013 to 2015. Following his retirement from the army, he served as the Chairman, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Secretary to the Ministry of Industries.
Rear admiral Conan Anthony Mohan Jayamaha, RWP, VSV, USP, psc, SLN was a Sri Lankan Admiral. He was Commander, Northern Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy when he was killed from wounds sustained in a land mine explosion that killed 7 other senior military officers including Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa in island of Kayts while making preparations for Operation Final Countdown the proposed invasion of the Jaffna Peninsula.
Admiral Travis Jeremy Liyanduru Sinniah, WWV, RWP, RSP and two Bars, USP was a Sri Lankan admiral and the 21st Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy. He has served as the Commander of Sri Lanka's Eastern Naval Area and as Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Fleet. He was the second Tamil to be appointed the commander of the Sri Lankan Navy after Rajan Kadiragamar in the 1960s.
Admiral Piyal De Silva, WWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a former senior Sri Lankan naval officer. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 2019 to 2020.
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.
Air Chief Marshal Sudarshana Karagoda Pathirana WWV, RSP & four Bars, VSV, USP is a former senior Sri Lanka Air Force officer, who had served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired Sri Lankan Army officer who served as the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – East, General Officer Commanding, 21 Division and Brigade Commander, Special Forces Brigade. Having founded the Special Forces Regiment of the Sri Lankan Army, he is known as the "Father of the Special Forces Regiment".