| Army War College | |
| Motto: | Service through wisdom |
| Established: | 23 January 2012 |
| Type: | staff college |
| Head Label: | Commandant |
| City: | Buttala |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Postgrad: | 300 |
| Affiliations: | Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka |
The Army War College (AWC) is a defence service training institution of the Sri Lanka Army located in Buttala, Monaragala District, Uva Province. The AWC provids command and staff courses for mid career commissioned officers of Sri Lanka Army as well as to limited number of officers from Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Air Force and officers of various allied forces.
It was opened on 23 January 2012 as the Officer Career Development Centre (OCDC) and was renamed as the Army War College in 2021. It is affiliated to the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.[1] [2] [3] The Naval and Maritime Academy and the Sri Lanka Air Force Junior Command & Staff College conducts similar courses for mid-career officers of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force.
With the rapid expansion of the Sri Lankan Army with the escalation of the Sri Lankan civil war, the army saw the need to enhance command and staff training for its senior subalterns and junior field officers since it depended on friendly nations for staff college trainings which amounted to only a few slots per year. With the re-designation of the former Army Training Centre as the Sri Lanka Military Academy (SLMA) in 1981, the Officers Study Centre (OSC) was established in the SLMA to conduct the Junior Staff Course, the Senior Tactics Course and the Senior Administration Course. Aimed at mid-career officers to develop basic command and staff techniques in the British tradition, for staff officer grade III/II appointments (officers in the ranks of Lieutenant / Captain / Major). With end of the civil war, the Army established the Officer Career Development Centre in 2012 as a junior staff college with the Junior Command Course (JCC) and the Junior Staff Course (JSC) transferred to it from the OSC. OCDC initiated the Unit Command Course in 2018 and replaced it with the Senior Command Course for prospective battalion commanders in 2021. In December 2021, the OCDC was renamed as the Army War College.[4]