SLAF Colombo

SLAF Colombo
	Colombo, Western Province
	SLAF Colombo
Coordinates	6°55′41″N79°51′04″E / 6.9281°N 79.8510°E Coordinates: 6°55′41″N79°51′04″E / 6.9281°N 79.8510°E
Type	Air Force Headquarters
Site information
Controlled by	Sri Lanka Air Force
Site history
In use	1952 – present

Last updated February 19, 2019

SLAF Colombo is the Sri Lanka Air Force headquarters in Colombo. In this capacity it has the offices of the Commander of the Air Force, Chief of Staff, the Board of Management (BOM) and Board of Directors (BOD) of the Sri Lanka Air Force. All air and ground operations are directed from SLAF Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) is the air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major role throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War. The SLAF operates more than 160 aircraft and has a projected trained strength of 27,400 airmen and 1,300 officers, who are from both regular and reserve service. The Sri Lanka Air Force has expanded to specialize mainly in providing air-support to ground forces, troop landing, and carrying out air strikes on rebel-held areas in the Northern and Eastern theaters, but is also capable of high- and low-level air defence.

Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the city proper. It is the financial centre of the island and a popular tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a suburb of, Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins. It was the legislative capital of Sri Lanka until 1982.

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 Kapila Jayampathy. 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.

Apart from functioning as a headquarters, it is a limited air base for helicopter operations. Established soon after the formation of Royal Ceylon Air Forces was formed in 1951 at the former officers mess of the former Ceylon Rifle Regiment at Rifle green. The officer's mess was moved in the 1970s when the Trans Asia Hotel was made in its location. The mess is currently housed in the Cinnamon gardens area of Colombo. It is the only Officers' Mess to be located outside a SLAF Station premises.

The Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) was a regular native regiment formed by the British in Ceylon. Its history goes back to 1795.

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