Commander of the Army (Sri Lanka)

The post traces it's roots to the post of General Officer Commanding, Ceylon, which was the title of the officer commanding the British Army units stationed in Ceylon prior to independence in 1948. On 10 October 1949, when the Ceylon Army was formed following the enactment of the Army Act, Brigadier Earl of Caithness was appointed as Commandant, Ceylon Army and at times referred to as Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon Army. British Forces in Ceylon was also known as Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force. The title of the head of the Ceylon Army was changed to Commander of the Army. All army commanders till Sepala Attygalle (appointed in '67) held the rank of Brigadier and were being promoted to major general later, Attygalle was the first commander to be promoted to lieutenant general in 1974.

Since the 1990s, serving army commanders have been by convention of the rank of lieutenant general. Army commander is promoted to the rank of full general on the day of his retirement or if he is appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff. Two commanders were promoted to general after their retirements, Denis Perera and Nalin Seneviratne, were promoted in 2007 after 26 and 19 years respectively of their retirements in recognition to their services.[2] An army commander may be promoted to full general while in active service e.g. Sarath Fonseka and Shavendra Silva were made full generals in 2009 and 2020 respectively.

The Commander of the Army is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka under section 8 of the Army Act. The Commander of the Army, is not subjected to the mandatory retirement age of 55 or a maximum permissible service in rank, which officers from the rank of colonel and above are subject to. The appointment has no fixed term and the President may grant service extensions.[3]

The Commander of the Army, exercises overall command of the Sri Lanka Army from the Army Headquarters assisted by the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff, with all subordinate commands and branches reporting to the Army Headquarters. Reporting directly to the Commander are the Commander's secretariat, Commander's Security Unit and the Reserve Strike Force.[4]

The officer serving as the commander of the army, would be entitled to certain unique insignia. These include a personal flag and the officer's uniform includes a unique baton, aiguillettes and gorget patches. In addition to an Aide-de-camp, the commander of the army may appoint Military Assistants.

The official residence of the Commander of the Army is General's House in Colombo. The house was one of several built as Class A Quarters by the British Colonial Government of Ceylon along Bullers Road for the use of government officials and was used as the quarters of the Commander of the British Garrison in Ceylon. Brigadier James Sinclair, the Earl of Caithness took up residence in the house in 1949 after being appointed the first Commander of the Ceylon Army, and it has been used as the Commander's official residence since, with a brief interruption in 1955.

Retiring commanders are allowed to stay on an additional three months post-retirement to better facilitate their transition. The General's House, Nuwara Eliya is the former vacationing and country residence of the Army Commander, which had been used by the British General Officer Commanding, Ceylon.

Ranks and honours are as at the completion of their tenure:

No.	Portrait	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Unit of Commission	Notes
1		Sinclair, RoderickBrigadier The Earl of Caithness CBE, DSO (1906–1965)	20 October 1949	17 May 1952	2 years, 210 days	Gordon Highlanders	The first commander of the army who was in the rank of brigadier; a native British person.
2		Reid, FrancisBrigadier Sir Francis Reid CBE (1900–1970)	18 May 1952	8 February 1955	2 years, 266 days	Royal Artillery	The second British person to hold the Commander of the army title, served in the rank of brigadier like his predecessor.
3		Muttukumaru, AntonMajor General Anton Muttukumaru OBE, ED (1908–2001)	9 February 1955	31 December 1959	4 years, 326 days	Ceylon Light Infantry	The first native Ceylonese person to become the commander; initially held the rank of brigadier but later was promoted to major general.
4		Wijeyekoon, H.Major General H. W. G. Wijeyekoon OBE, ED (1911–1969)	1 January 1960	31 December 1963	3 years, 364 days	Ceylon Light Infantry	-
5		Udugama, RichardMajor General Deshamanya Richard Udugama MBE (1911–1995)	1 January 1964	10 November 1966	2 years, 313 days	Ceylon Light Infantry	-
6		Heyn, BertramMajor General Deshabandu Bertram Heyn (1912–1998)	20 December 1971	2 March 1972	323 days	Ceylon Light Infantry	The last British person to hold the post.
7		Attygalle, SepalaLieutenant General Deshamanya Sepala Attygalle LVO (1922–2001)	1 October 1967	13 October 1977	10 years, 12 days	Sri Lanka Armoured Corps	The first commander to be promoted to lieutenant general and later full general on the day of his retirement. The title 'Commander of the Ceylon Army' was changed to 'Commander of the Sri Lanka Army' during his tenure.
8		Perera, DenisLieutenant General Deshamanya Denis Perera VSV (1930–2013)	14 October 1977	13 October 1981	3 years, 364 days	Sri Lanka Engineers	Served as commander with the rank of major general, became lieutenant general on the day of his retirement in 1981 and in 2007 was given the honor of full general after 26 years of retirement.
9		Weeratunga, TissaLieutenant General Tissa Weeratunga VSV (1930–2003)	14 October 1981	11 February 1985	3 years, 120 days	Gemunu Watch	Served as commander with the rank of major general; was promoted to lieutenant general after taking the responsibility of Joint Operations Command; promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
10		Seneviratne, NalinLieutenant General Nalin Seneviratne VSV (1931–2009)	12 February 1985	15 August 1988	3 years, 185 days	Sri Lanka Engineers	Served as major general, became lieutenant general on the day of his retirement; promoted to full general in 2007 after 19 years of retirement.
11		Wanasinghe, HamiltonLieutenant General Hamilton Wanasinghe VSV	16 August 1988	15 November 1991	3 years, 91 days	Sri Lanka Artillery	Promoted to full general after becoming the GOC of Joint Operations Command.
12		Waidyaratne, CecilLieutenant General Cecil Waidyaratne VSV (1938–2001)	16 November 1991	31 December 1993	2 years, 45 days	Sri Lanka Armoured Corps	-
13		Silva, G.Lieutenant General G. H. De Silva RWP, VSV, USP (born 1940)	1 January 1994	30 April 1996	2 years, 120 days	Gemunu Watch	-
14		Daluwatte, RohanGeneral Rohan Daluwatte RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (1941–2018)	1 May 1996	15 December 1998	2 years, 228 days	Sri Lanka Armoured Corps	Promoted to full general on the day of becoming CDS.
15		Weerasooriya, C.General C. S. Weerasooriya RWP, RSP, VSV, USP	16 December 1998	24 August 2000	1 year, 252 days	Sri Lanka Artillery	Promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
16		Balagalle, LionelGeneral Lionel Balagalle RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP	25 August 2000	30 June 2004	3 years, 310 days	Sri Lanka Artillery	The first person who got the duty of CDS simultaneously holding the army commander's appointment; promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
17		Kottegoda, ShanthaGeneral Shantha Kottegoda WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP (born 1949)	1 July 2004	5 December 2005	1 year, 157 days	Sri Lanka Light Infantry	Promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
18		Fonseka, SarathGeneral Sarath Fonseka RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (born 1950)	6 December 2005	15 July 2009	3 years, 221 days	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment	Promoted to full general while serving as army commander; became Field Marshal in 2015 after six years of his retirement.[5]
19		Jayasuriya, JagathGeneral Jagath Jayasuriya VSV, USP	15 July 2009	1 August 2013	4 years, 17 days	Sri Lanka Armoured Corps	Promoted to full general on the day of becoming CDS.
20		Ratnayake, DayaGeneral Daya Ratnayake WWV, RWP, RSP, USP	1 August 2013	21 February 2015	1 year, 204 days	Sri Lanka Light Infantry	Promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
21		Silva, CrishanthaGeneral Crishantha de Silva RWP, USP	22 February 2015	4 July 2017	2 years, 132 days	Sri Lanka Engineers	Promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
22		Senanayake, MaheshGeneral Mahesh Senanayake RWP, RSP, VSV, USP	4 July 2017	19 August 2019	2 years, 46 days	Sri Lanka Engineers	Promoted to full general on the day of his retirement.
23		Silva, ShavendraGeneral Shavendra Silva WWV, RWP, RSP, USP (born 1964)	19 August 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 115 days	Gajaba Regiment	Promoted to full general while serving as commander and also holding the appointment of CDS.

• General's House, Colombo
• General's House, Nuwara Eliya
• Chief of the Defence Staff (Sri Lanka)
• Chief of Staff of the Army (Sri Lanka)
• Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
• Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force

• Former Army commanders
• Three Service Commanders promoted