Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Gagan Bulathsinghala (also known as Gagan Pulasthi Bulathsinghala) RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, MPhil (Def & Strat), MSc (Def Stud) in Mgt, FIM(SL)

National Defence College, India The National Defence College, located in New Delhi, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Defence Service and the Civil Services. This is a very prestigious course attended only b ...

, psc is a retired air officer and a former commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force. He has also held the position of Chief of the Air Staff and after his retirement on 12 September 2016, was appointed the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Afghanistan, a position he holds currently.

Early life and education

Gagan was born in Colombo on 12 September 1961. His father was Bulathsinghalage Percy Marcus Perera who was a lawyer and a former flight lieutenant in the

Royal Ceylon Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

. His mother was Dona Beatrice Perera. He received his entire education from

Nalanda College, Colombo ''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā'' , motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom , established = , founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne , type = National , grades = ...

. While at school he did many extra curricular activities such as cadeting, ruby and being a member of many school societies. He was involved in publishing the college's monthly newspaper, ''Nalanda''. Some of his contemporaries at Nalanda are Major General

Ubaya Madawela Major General Ubaya Medawela RSP, VSV, USP, ndu, psc, MSc was a Sri Lankan army general; he was the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. Education Ubaya received his education from Nalanda College Colombo (where he was a Senior Cadet) al ...

, Major General

Janaka Walgama Major General (Retd) Janaka Walgama RSP, VSV, USP, ndu, psc was the Military Adviser to the Sri Lanka's Permanent Representation to the United Nations at New York. Early life and education Janaka received his education from Nalanda College Col ...

, Major General Ajith Wikramasingha, the consultant neurologist

Udaya Ranawaka Prof Udaya Ranawaka (also known as Udaya K. Ranawaka) is a Senior Consultant Neurologist to the North Colombo Teaching Hospital(NCTH), Ragama and Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Early life and education Rana ...

and the Sri Lankan former test cricketer

Sanath Kaluperuma Sanath Mohan Silva Kaluperuma (born 22 October 1961) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in four Tests and two ODIs from 1984 to 1988. Life and career Born in Colombo, Kaluperuma studied at Nalanda College Colombo and represented Bloomf ...

. Air Marshal Bulathsinghala is a graduate of

Air Command and Staff College The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Uni ...

at Air University in Alabama, USA, and the National Defence College in New Delhi, India. He also has postgraduate degrees of

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in defence and strategic studies from

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

in India and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in defence studies management from

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) ( Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ''General Sir John Kotelawala'' ''Ar ...

in Sri Lanka. He is a Fellow of the

Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) is a U.S. Department of Defense institute that officially opened Sept. 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Center addresses regional and global security issues, inviting militar ...

in Hawaii and the

Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies Established in 2000, the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies is a U.S. Department of Defense institution for building relationships and understanding in the NESA region. The NESA Center supports the theater security cooperati ...

the USA. He was presented with the Nalanda Keerthi Sri award by his ''alma mater'',

Nalanda College, Colombo ''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā'' , motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom , established = , founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne , type = National , grades = ...

, in 2015.

Military career

Bulathsinghala joined the National Defence College as an officer cadet on 12 February 1981 and was commissioned as a pilot officer in the General Duties Pilot Branch on 8 April 1983. He was the founding Commanding Officer of

No. 6 Squadron SLAF No. 6 Helicopter Squadron is a squadron of the Sri Lanka Air Force. It currently operates Mil Mi-17s from SLAF Anuradhapura for troop transport. History The squadron was formed on March 15, 1993 SLAF Katunayake with the arrival of Mil Mi-17s. I ...

and longest serving Commanding Officer of the No. 4 (VVIP/VIP) Helicopter Squadron SLAF. Air Marshal Bulathsinghala is a

VVIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples incl ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

with over 4,500 flying hours. He has been the VVIP pilot for four Sri Lankan presidents

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga ( si, ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග, ta, டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க; 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was the fourth Presid ...

and

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

. Gagan also commanded the Sri Lanka Air Force Base China Bay. During

Eelam War I Eelam War I (23 July 1983 - 29 July 1987) is the name given to the initial phase of the armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. Although tensions between the government and Tamil militant groups had been brewing since ...

, the then Flying Officer Bulathsinghala was the pilot of

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. Design and development Development began in the ...

that was hit by a

Rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

that has been fired by the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

on 18 December 1986 in Poovarasankulam Vavuniya. After a fierce gun battle and in spite of losing one engine, he managed to land the helicopter in Vavuniya base after declaring an emergency.Operating under missile threat…
br>
More on heli ops
br>
A secret flight to Nedunkerni
/ref> During his tenure Air Marshal Bulathsinghala held the positions of aide-de-camp to the Commander of Air Force, Overall Operations Commander Air Defence and the Command Flight Safety Officer, Chief Instructor of the Air Wing at Defence Service Command and Staff College, Director Air Operations, Chief of Staff. He was promoted to the rank of air marshal on 1 June 2015 and was appointed as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force on 16 June 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulathsinghala, Gagan Living people Sri Lankan Air Chief Marshals Sinhalese military personnel Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force Sri Lankan aviators 1961 births Air Command and Staff College alumni

Early life and education

Military career

See also

References