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.
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.
List of chiefs of staff
NoChief of StaffTook officeLeft officeUnit of commissionNotes1 Lieutenant Colonel Anton Muttukumaru 10 October 194931 December 1953Ceylon Light InfantryLater Lieutenant ColonelAnton Muttukumaru was appointed as 3rd Commander of the Army and promoted to Major General.2 Lieutenant Colonel H.W.G. Wijeyekoon 1 January 195409 February 1955 Ceylon Light Infantry Later Lieutenant Colonel H. W. G. Wijeyekoon was appointed as 4th Commander of the Army and promoted to Major General.3 Colonel Maurice de Mel 10 February 195513 November 1959 Ceylon Garrison Artillery 4 Colonel Bertram Heyn 13 November 19591 December 1962 Ceylon Light Infantry Later Colonel Bertram Heyn was appointed as 6th Commander of the Army and promoted to Brigadier. Later he was promoted to Major General.5 Colonel Richard Udugama 1 December 196214 November 1963 Ceylon Light Infantry 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 Colonel Sepala Attygalle 21 March 196422 September 1967 Ceylon Light Infantry Later Colonel Sepala Attygalle was appointed as 7th Commander of the Army and promoted to General on his retirement.7 Colonel P. D. Ramayanayake 26 March 19665 January 1967 Ceylon Engineers Officiated while Colonel Sepala Attygalle following his Imperial Defence College course in London. 8 Brigadier M. A. Jayaweera 1 February 19691 February 1974 Ceylon Light Infantry 9 Brigadier E. T. De Z Abeysekera 1 February 19743 May 1976 Ceylon Light Infantry 10 Brigadier C. T. Caldera 3 May 19761 April 1977Ceylon Light Infantry 11 Brigadier Denis Perera 5 August 197713 October 1977 Ceylon Engineers 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 Brigadier T. S. B. Sally 1 December 197715 March 1979 Ceylon Light Infantry 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 Brigadier Tissa Weerathunga 18 March 197914 October 1981 Ceylon Light Infantry 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 Brigadier Cyril Ranatunga 15 February 19824 February 1983 Ceylon Light Infantry 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 198324 September 1986Gemunu Watch After Brigadier Cyril Ranatunga's retirement, post of Chief of Staff was vacant for around 8 months before Brigadier Mano Madawala's appointment. 16 Brigadier E. G. Thevanayagam 1 October 198610 January 1987 Ceylon Light Infantry 17 Brigadier J. G. Balthazar 10 January 19875 December 1987 Ceylon Light Infantry 18 Major General C. A. M. N. Silva 15 December 19874 July 1988Ceylon Light Infantry 19 Major General Hamilton Wanasinghe 15 July 198816 August 1988Ceylon Artillery 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 198818 March 1989 Ceylon Light Infantry21 Major General Cecil Waidyaratne 23 March 198916 November 1991 Ceylon Armoured Corps 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 199110 June 1992 Ceylon Engineers 23 Major General Y. Balaretnarajah 10 June 199230 September 1992 Ceylon Armoured Corps 24 Major General G. H. de Silva 23 October 19921 January 1994 Ceylon Sinha Regiment 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 Major General Lakshman Algama 1 January 19942 April 1995 Gemunu Watch 26 Major General Rohan Daluwatte 2 June 19951 May 1996 Ceylon Armoured Corps 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. 27Major General A.M.U. Seneviratne 1 May 199610 December 1996Ceylon Light Infantry 28Major General H.S. Hapuarachchi 11 December 199622 February 1998 Ceylon Sinha Regiment 29Major General Srilal Weerasooriya 23 February 199816 December 1998 Ceylon Artillery 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. 30Major General Patrick Fernando 16 December 19982 April 1999Gemunu Watch 31Major General Lionel Balagalle 2 April 199924 August 2000 Ceylon Artillery 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. 32Major General Janaka Perera 15 June 200031 January 2001Ceylon Engineers 33Major General Neil Dias 1 February 200113 April 2002Ceylon Armoured Corps 34Major General Lohan Gunawardena 13 April 200222 November 2003 Gemunu Watch 35Major General Shantha Kottegoda 23 November 200330 June 2004 Ceylon Light Infantry 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. 36Major General Chula Seneviratne 1 July 20049 December 2004Ceylon Signals Corps 37Major General Sarath Fonseka 9 December 20046 December 2005 Ceylon Sinha Regiment 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. 38Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi 6 December 20053 February 2007 Sri Lanka Light Infantry 39 Major General U.B.L. Fernando 3 February 20075 February 2008Gajaba Regiment 40 Major General N Wijesinghe 5 February 20082 March 2009 Sri Lanka Artillery 41Major General G.A. Chandrasiri 1 March 200912 July 2009 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps 42 Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe 24 July 2009 29 January 2010 Sri Lanka Engineers 43Major General Daya Ratnayake 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. 44Major General A.W.J.C. De Silva 5 September 201316 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. 45Major General Prasad Samarasinghe 17 May 20146 May 2015 Sri Lanka Signals Corps 46Major General Jagath Dias 7 May 2015 26 December 2015 Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment 47Major General Milinda Peiris 12 February 201611 August 2016Sri Lanka Armoured Corps 48Major General Ubaya Madawela 1 November 20162 December 2016 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps 49Major General Channa Gunathilaka 14 December 2016 March 2017 Sri Lanka Engineers 50Major General Mahesh Senanayake 22 March 2017 3 July 2017 Sri Lanka Engineers 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. 51Major General Amal Karunasekara 22 July 201713 March 2018 Sri Lanka Light Infantry 52Major General Dampath Fernando 27 April 2018December 2018 Gemunu Watch 53Major General Shavendra Silva 9 January 201918 August 2019 Gajaba Regiment 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. 54Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage 23 August 20191 June 2020 Sri Lanka Armoured Corps 55Major General Jagath Gunawardena 2 June 202015 December 2020 Sri Lanka Engineers 56Major General Prabath Dematanpitiya 16 December 202017 January 2021 Sri Lanka Signals Corps 57Major General Senarath Bandara 18 January 202116 July 2021 Gemunu Watch 58Major General Priyantha Perera 17 July 20216 December 2021 Gemunu Watch 59Major General Vikum Liyanage 7 December 2021 30 May 2022 Gajaba Regiment Later Major General Vikum Liyanage was appointed as 24th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. 60Major General Jagath Kodithuwakku 8 June 2022 26 November 2022 Sri Lanka Light Infantry 61Major General Channa Weerasuriya 29 November 2022 14 July 2023 Sri Lanka Light Infantry 62Major General Sanjaya Wanasinghe 15 July 2023 13 October 2023 Sri Lanka ArtilleryHe is the eldest son of 11th commander of Sri Lanka Army, General Hamilton Wanasinghe. 63Major General W.H.K.S Peiris 16 December 2023 03 June 2024Gajaba Regiment64 Major General S.R.B. Aluvihare 20 June 2023 11 September 2024 Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment65 Major General Dinesh Nanayakkara 13 September 20248 February 2025Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment66 Major General Chandana Wickramasinghe 9 February 202525 June 2025Gajaba Regiment67 Major General D.K.S.K Dolage 26 June 20252 April 2026Sri Lanka Engineers 68 Major General Y.A.B.M Yahampath 2 April 202627 May 2026Sri Lanka Light Infantry 69 Major General K.V.N.P. Premaratne 1 June 2026To DateSri Lanka Artillery
References
External links Sri Lanka Army