Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army explained

Post:	Chief of Staff of the Army
Incumbent:	Major General Dinesh Nanayakkara
Department:	Sri Lanka Army
Type:	Seconed in Command of the Sri Lank Army, Deputy to the Commander of the Army
Status:	Two star general
Abbreviation:	COS
Reports To:	Commander of the Army
Residence:	Colombo
Seat:	Army HQ
Nominator:	President of Sri Lanka
Appointer:	President of Sri Lanka
Termlength:	Not fixed
Precursor:	Chief of General Staff
Formation:	1949
First:	Lt. Col. Anton Muttukumaru
Deputy:	Deputy Chief of Staff

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.^[1]

History

The post was established in 1949, when Lieutenant Colonel Anton Muttukumaru was appointed as chief of staff to Brigadier the Earl of Caithness, the first Army Commander when the Ceylon Army was formed. The post was thereafter held by one of the senior most officers in the Ceylon Army, usually of the rank of colonel. In 1955, Colonel Gerard Wijeyekoon held the post and served as Acting Army Commander, while Brigadier Muttukumaru attend Imperial Defence College. On his return in 1956 Brigadier Muttukumaru assumed command of the army and Colonel Wijeyekoon was transferred to the newly created post of Commandant of the Volunteer Force which became the second most senior post in the army. Since 1966, it became the third-ranking after that of Army Commander. In the 1970s the post became a Brigadier's posting In the early 1990s the post of Deputy Chief of Staff was created. The post of chief of staff has become a major general's posting since the early 1980s.^[2]

List of chiefs of staff

No	width=300px	Chief of Staff	width=120px	Took office	width=120px	Left office	width=180px	Unit of commission	width= 450px	Notes
1		10 October 1949	31 December 1953	Ceylon Light Infantry	Later Lieutenant ColonelAnton Muttukumaru was appointed as 3rd Commander of the Army and promoted to Major General.
2		1 January 1954	09 February 1955		Later Lieutenant Colonel H. W. G. Wijeyekoon was appointed as 4th Commander of the Army and promoted to Major General.
3		10 February 1955	13 November 1959
4		13 November 1959	1 December 1962		Later Colonel Bertram Heyn was appointed as 6th Commander of the Army and promoted to Brigadier. Later he was promoted to Major General.
5		1 December 1962	14 November 1963		Later Colonel Richard Udugama was appointed as 5th Commander of the Army and promoted to Brigadier. He was later promoted to the rank of Major General.
6		21 March 1964	22 September 1967		Later Colonel Sepala Attygalle was appointed as 7th Commander of the Army and promoted to General on his retirement.
7		26 March 1966	5 January 1967		Officiated while Colonel Sepala Attygalle following his Imperial Defence College course in London.
8		1 February 1969	1 February 1974
9		1 February 1974	3 May 1976
10		3 May 1976	1 April 1977	Ceylon Light Infantry
11		5 August 1977	13 October 1977		Later Brigadier Denis Perera was appointed as 8th Commander of the Army and promoted to Major General. On his retirement he was promoted to Lieutenant General. In 2007 he was promoted to General.
12		1 December 1977	15 March 1979		On two occasions (18 February 1978 and 16 October 1978) Brig Sally was acting Commander of the Army when the Commander was overseas on assignments. He was the last officer from the Ceylon Defence Force to leave active service.
13		18 March 1979	14 October 1981		Later Brigadier Tissa Weerathunga was appointed as 9th Commander of the Army and promoted to Major General. On his retirement he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed as first General Officer Commanding of the Joint Operation Command.
14		15 February 1982	4 February 1983		He retired as COS and later was recalled from retirement in September 1985 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, to serve as the General Officer Commanding, Joint Operations Command (JOC).
15	Brigadier Mano Madawela	18 August 1983	24 September 1986		After Brigadier Cyril Ranatunga's retirement, post of Chief of Staff was vacant for around 8 months before Brigadier Mano Madawala's appointment.
16		1 October 1986	10 January 1987
17		10 January 1987	5 December 1987
18		15 December 1987	4 July 1988
19		15 July 1988	16 August 1988		Later Major General Hamilton Wanasinghe was appointed as 11th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General and appointed as the general officer commanding (GOC) of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) serving from 1991 to 1993.
20	Major General S.M.A. Jayawardena	16 August 1988	18 March 1989	Ceylon Light Infantry
21		23 March 1989	16 November 1991		Later Major General Cecil Waidyaratne was appointed as 12th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
22	Major General J. R. S de Silva	16 November 1991	10 June 1992
23		10 June 1992	30 September 1992
24		23 October 1992	1 January 1994		Later Major General G. H. De Silva was appointed as 13th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
25		1 January 1994	2 April 1995
26		2 June 1995	1 May 1996		Later Major General Rohan Daluwatte was appointed as 14th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General. After his retirement, he was appointed Chairman of the newly created Joint Operations Bureau, however he was reinstated to active service with the formation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff.
27	Major General A.M.U. Seneviratne	1 May 1996	10 December 1996
28	Major General H.S. Hapuarachchi	11 December 1996	22 February 1998
29		23 February 1998	16 December 1998		Later Major General Srilal Weerasooriya was appointed as 15th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
30	Major General Patrick Fernando	16 December 1998	2 April 1999
31		2 April 1999	24 August 2000		Later Major General Lionel Balagalle was appointed as 16th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On 10 October 2003, he was appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) as serving army commander.
32		15 June 2000	31 January 2001	Ceylon Engineers
33	Major General Neil Dias	1 February 2001	13 April 2002
34	Major General Lohan Gunawardena	13 April 2002	22 November 2003
35		23 November 2003	30 June 2004		Later Major General Shantha Kottegoda was appointed as 17th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
36	Major General Chula Seneviratne	1 July 2004	9 December 2004	Ceylon Signals Corps
37		9 December 2004	6 December 2005		Later Major General Sarath Fonseka was appointed as 18th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. At the end of the war he was promoted to General, becoming the first army commander to hold a full General rank. On 15 July 2009 he was the first person appointed CDS under the newly approved Chief of Defence Staff Act. On On 22 March 2015, he was promoted to Field Marshal.
38		6 December 2005	3 February 2007
39	Major General U.B.L. Fernando	3 February 2007	5 February 2008	Gajaba Regiment
40	Major General N Wijesinghe	5 February 2008	2 March 2009
41		1 March 2009	12 July 2009
42		24 July 2009	29 January 2010	Sri Lanka Engineers
43		January 2010	30 July 2013	Sri Lanka Light Infantry	Later Major General Daya Ratnayake was appointed as 20th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
44		5 September 2013	16 June 2014	Sri Lanka Engineers	Later Major General Crishantha de Silva was appointed as 21st Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. In June 2017 he was promoted to General and appointed as Chief of Defence Staff.
45	Major General Prasad Samarasinghe	17 May 2014	6 May 2015
46		7 May 2015	26 December 2015
47		12 February 2016	11 August 2016
48		1 November 2016	2 December 2016
49		14 December 2016	March 2017
50		22 March 2017	3 July 2017		Later Major General Mahesh Senanayake was appointed as 22nd Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
51		22 July 2017	13 March 2018
52		27 April 2018	December 2018
53		9 January 2019	18 August 2019		Later Major General Shavendra Silva was appointed as 23rd Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. In January 2020, General Silva was appointed as Acting Chief of Defence Staff, while serving as Army Commander. He was promoted to the rank of General on 28 December 2020. On his retirement on 1 June 2022, he was confirmed as Chief of Defence Staff.
54	Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage	23 August 2019	1 June 2020
55		2 June 2020	15 December 2020
56		16 December 2020	17 January 2021
57	Major General Senarath Bandara	18 January 2021	16 July 2021
58	Major General Priyantha Perera	17 July 2021	6 December 2021
59		7 December 2021	30 May 2022		Later Major General Vikum Liyanage was appointed as 24th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General.
60		8 June 2022	26 November 2022	Sri Lanka Light Infantry
61		29 November 2022	14 July 2023	Sri Lanka Light Infantry
62		15 July 2023	13 October 2023	Sri Lanka Artillery	He is the eldest son of 11th commander of Sri Lanka Army, General Hamilton Wanasinghe.
63	Major General W.H.K.S Peiris	16 December 2023	03 June 2024	Gajaba Regiment
64	Major General S.R.B. Aluvihare	20 June 2023	11 September 2024	Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment
65	Major General Dinesh Nanayakkara	13 September 2024	to date	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment

External links

Sri Lanka Army

Notes and References

Web site: Army Establishment . army.lk . Sri Lanka Army . 6 September 2019.
News: Athukorala . Soldier, lawyer and diplomat . 30 August 2019 . Daily News. Henry Athukorale .