Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army explained

Post:	Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army
Incumbent:	Major General S.P.A.I.M.B Samarakoon
Department:	Sri Lanka Army
Type:	Very senior army post
Status:	Two star general
Abbreviation:	DCOS
Reports To:	Commander of the Army
Residence:	Colombo
Seat:	Army HQ
Nominator:	President of Sri Lanka
Appointer:	President of Sri Lanka
Termlength:	Not fixed
Formation:	1994

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army (DoSA) has been the title of the third in command of the Sri Lanka Army created in 1994. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of Major General and is the third senior position in the army. Deputy of Staff is charged with assisting the Chief of Staff of the Army in both operational and administrative aspects, functioning as the Acting Army Commander in his absences or incantation.

List of Deputy Chiefs of Staff

No	width=300px	Deputy Chief of Staff	width=180px	Took office	width=180px	Left office	width=180px	Unit of commission	width= 450px	Notes
1			1 June 1995	Ceylon Armoured Corps	Later Major General Rohan Daluwatte was appointed as 26th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later as 14th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
2	Major General W. R. Wijerathne		1995	Gemunu Watch
3	Major General A. M. U. Seneviratne	1995	30 April 1996	Ceylon Light Infantry	Later Major General A. M. U. Seneviratne was appointed as 27th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army.
4		1996	October 1996	Ceylon Sinha Regiment
5		October 1996	22 February 1998	Ceylon Artillery	Later Major General Srilal Weerasooriya was appointed as 29th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later as 15th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
6	Major General Jaliya Nammuni		6 September 1998	Ceylon Sinha Regiment
7		6 September 1998	12 November 1998	Ceylon Light Infantry
8	Major General S. T. T. (Sathis) Jayasundera			Rajarata Rifles / Gajaba Regiment
9		February 1999	1 April 1999	Ceylon Artillery	Later Major General Lionel Balagalle was appointed as 31st Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later 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.
10		1999 April	14 June 2000	Ceylon Engineers	Later Major General Janaka Perera was appointed as 32nd Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army
11	Major General Neil Dias	June 2000	1 February 2001	Ceylon Armoured Corps	Later Major General Neil Dias appointed as 33rd Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army.
12	Major General Lohan Gunawardena	1 February 2001	13 April 2002		Later Major General Lohan Gunawardena appointed as 34th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army.
13	Major General A.E.D. Wijendra	13 April 2002	31 August 2003
14	Major General Shantha Kottegoda	13 August 2003	23 November 2003		Later Major General Shantha Kottegoda was appointed as 35th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army and later as 17th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
15	Major General Chula Seneviratne	23 November 2003	30 June 2004	Ceylon Signals Corps	Later Major General Chula Seneviratne was appointed as 36th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
16	Major General Sarath Fonseka	1 July 2004	9 December 2004	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment	Later Major General Sarath Fonseka was appointed as 37th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later 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.
17	Major General M.D.S. Chandrapala	9 December 2004	6 December 2005
18	Major General Parami Kulatunga	6 December 2005	24 June 2006		Major General Kulatunga was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant general effective from 28 June 2006.
19	Major General D.V.S.Y. Kulatunga	24 July 2006	3 February 2007
20	Major General N Wijesinghe	3 February 2007	5 February 2008
21	Major General Upul Perera	7 May 2009	29 January 2010
22	Major General A.L.R. Wijetunga	22 November 2010	11 July 2012
23	Major General Piyal Abeysekera	12 July 2012	8 May 2014	Sri Lanka Signals Corps
24	Major General Mahinda Ambanpola	2 June 2014	15 February 2016	Engineer Services Regiment
25	Major General K.A.S. Perera	16 February 2016	30 September 2016
26	Major General Channa Gunathilaka	1 November 2016	15 December 2016	Sri Lanka Engineers	Later Major General Channa Gunathilaka was appointed as 49th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
27	Major General R.V. Udawatte	15 December 2016	July 2017	Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps
28	Major General Dampath Fernando	4 August 2017	26 March 2018		Later Major General Dampath Fernando was appointed as 52nd Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
29	Major General Ajith Kariyakarawana	18 April 2018	21 April 2019	Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment
30	Major General Vajira Palihakkara	April 2018	June 2019		Acting Deputy Chief of Staff
31	Major General Kumudu Perera	4 July 2019	29 October 2019	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment
32	Major General Nirmal Dharmaratne	22 November 2019	19 April 2020	Gajaba Regiment
33		2 June 2020	30 September 2020
34	Major General Duminda Sirinaga	1 October 2020	8 January 2021
35	Major General Wasantha Madola	14 January 2021	7 September 2021
36	Major General Sampath Kotuwegoda	8 September 2021	21 December 2021
37	Major General Jagath Kodithuwakku	21 December 2021	7 June 2022		Later Major General Jagath Kodithuwakku was appointed as 60th Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
38	Major General Channa Weerasuriya	16 June 2022	29 November 2022		Later Major General Channa Weerasuriya was appointed as 61st Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
39	Major General Sujeewa Senarath Yapa	14 December 2022	8 June 2023
40	Major General Sanjaya Wanasinghe	8 June 2023	14 July 2023	Sri Lanka Artillery	Later Major General Sanjaya Wanasinghe was appointed as 62nd Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army.
41	Major General C.D Ranasinghe	18 July 2023	27 October 2023	Gajaba Regiment
42	Major General G.R.R.P Jayawardena	21 November 2023	08 December 2023	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment
43	Major General S.P.A.I.M.B Samarakoon	15 December 2023	November 2024	Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
44	Major General B.K.G.M.L Rodrigo	28 November 2024	30 December 2024	Sri Lanka Artillery	Later Major General B.K.G.M.L Rodrigo was appointed as 25th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General.
45	Major General M.G.W.W.W.M.C.B. Wickramasinghe	2 January 2025		Gajaba Regiment

External links

• Sri Lanka Army