Historic day for country’s Defence establishment
Chief of Defence Staff, Commanders assume duties
Ranil Wijayapala
Sri Lanka marks a historic day today in the sphere of the defence
sector with three key personalities in the Sri Lanka Armed Forces, Chief
of Defence Staff, General Sarath Fonseka, Army Commander Lt. General
Jagath Jayasuriya and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe
assuming duties after they were appointed to these posts by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa with effect from today.
General Sarath Fonseka who led the Sri Lanka Army to liberate the
country fully from the clutches of the LTTE terrorists, killing its
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran including all its top rung leaders,
yesterday relinquished his duties as the Army Commander after handing
his sword to his successor Major General Jagath Jayasuriya.
The Sri Lanka Army accorded him a guard of honour at the Army
Headquarters.
General Sarath Fonseka is due to assume duties today as the Chief of
Defence Staff succeeding Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera at the Joint
Operations Headquarters at 11.17 a.m.
The outgoing Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera
will also be present to relinquish his duties.
General Fonseka is the first person to take over this powerful
position of Chief of Defence Staff which is akin to the post of a Deputy
Defence Secretary, with wide range of powers vested in this position
after the Chief of Defence Staff Act was passed in the Parliament.
The powerful institution of the Chief of Defence Staff will comprise
a staff of 300, including six Majors General of the Sri Lanka Army, and
a Rear Admiral from the Sri Lanka Navy and an Air Vice Marshal from the
Sri Lanka Air Force.
He will also be the Chairman of the Committee of the Chief of Defence
Staff which is comprising the Army Commander, Navy Commander and the Air
Force Commander. The CDS has been entrusted with the powers to
coordinate matters relating to prepare operational plans, military
intelligence and various other functions of the Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, newly appointed Army Commander Lt. General Jagath
Jayasuriya and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe will
also assume duties in their respective position this morning.
Lt. General Jagath Jayasuriya, an illustrious Army officer from the
Armoured Corps will be the 19 th Commander in the Army which was formed
in 1949. He had served more than 30 years in the Sri Lanka Army holding
key posts. He was the Security Forces Commander Vanni at the time he was
promoted to the rank of Lt. General and appointed as the 19th Army
Commander by the President.
Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, a professional Navy officer with a
service of 35 years, will take over the command of the Sri Lanka Navy
succeeding Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda during his tenure, ten LTTE
floating warehouses were destroyed bringing fame to the country at
international fora.
He was the second in command of the Navy and was about to retire from
the Navy with the completion of 55 years at the time President elevated
him to the high command of the Navy with an extension of one year
service.
He also held key appointments in the Navy including the Eastern Area
and Northern Area Commander of the Navy making his innovative
contribution to the Navy including that of the introduction of fastest
loading and unloading process of a ship which enabled to load and unload
3,000 troops plus cargo within 15 minutes.
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