Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Channa Gunathilaka, RSP, USP, ndc, psc,

SLE Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Commo ...

(born 1963) was a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Army, who is the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. He was the former Commandant of the

Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Army. The SLAVF is separate from the Regular Force (known as the ''regular army'') which consists of personal who are professional soldiers an ...

, Security Force Commander (Central), Military Secretary, Security Force Commander (Kilinochchi), GOC - 56th Infantry Division, GOC - Mannar.MAJOR GENERAL HCP GOONETILLEKE NEW COMMANDANT OF THE ‘VOLUNTEER FORCE’ OF SRI LANKA
/ref> Educated at

St. Benedict's College, Colombo St. Benedict's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත බෙනඩික් විදුහල, Tamil: புனித ஆசீர்வாதப்பர் கல்லூரி) is a Catholic school located in the Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri L ...

and at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

, Gunathilaka went on to join the Sri Lanka Army in August 1981. Undergoing basic training at the

Sri Lanka Military Academy The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the Sri Lanka Army's training centre where officer cadets are trained for getting commission. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatalawa ...

Diyatalawa Diyatalawa (දියතලාව, meaning “the watered plain”) is a former garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is situated at an altitude of and has become a popular destination ...

, he won the “Sword of Honour” as the Best All Round Officer Cadet in his batch and was commissioned into the Sri Lanka Engineers as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Command And Staff College, Mirpur and the National Defence University, Pakistan where he gained a master's degree in Defence and Strategic Studies. Serving with the Sri Lanka Engineers throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War, he went on to serve as the

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 7th Field Engineer Regiment and Brigade Commander of the 551 Infantry Brigade and the 533 Infantry Brigade. He also served as the General Officer Commanding of the Mannar District and the 56th Infantry Division. He was also the Commander of the Security Forces Headquarters – Kilinochchi and Security Forces Headquarters – Central. At Army Headquarters he served as the Military Secretary of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

and Director General Doctrine and Training as well as Director General, General Staff at the

Office of the Chief of Defence Staff The Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS) is the Sri Lanka Armed Forces operational level headquarters of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), responsible for coordinating joint armed force's operations. However the respective service com ...

. General Gunathilaka has been awarded the Rana Sura Padakkama, Uttama Seva Padakkama, and the

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal __NOTOC__ The Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') i ...

among other medals. In 2000, under a government initiative, he was instrumental in forming the Youth Corps. In 2014 he was awarded the “HR Leadership Award” at the Asia Pacific Human Resource Management Congress Awards in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunathilaka, C Sri Lankan major generals Sinhalese military personnel Sinhalese engineers Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Living people Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates 1963 births