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 Adm ...

Harsha Abeywickrema, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, rcds, psc, qfi (born 28 November 1960) is a senior Sri Lankan air force officer and

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare an ...

, who served as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force from 2012 to 2014 and later went on to serve as the Chairman of the

Bank of Ceylon Bank of Ceylon (BOC; Sinhala: ලංකා බැංකුව ''Lanka Bænkuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை வங்கி ''Ilangai Vangi'') is a state-owned, major commercial bank in Sri Lanka. Its head office is located in an iconic cyl ...

.No regrets about retiring – Air Marshal Abeywickrama
/ref>

Early life and education

Abeywickrema was born on 28 November 1960. He was educated at

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 Janu ...

. He later gained a MA degree in

International Studies International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

from King's College London, and a MSc degree in Management from the

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 ...

SLAF career

Abeywickrema joined the Sri Lanka Air Force as an

Officer Cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University ...

in the General Duties Pilot Branch in 1980. After successful completion of Flying Training he was commissioned as a

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countrie ...

in 1982. In the early 1980's the Sri Lanka Air Force had only two air squadrons, a fixed wing squadron and a rotary wing squadron, its fighter aircraft had been retired. With the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War, air force operations increased. Flying Officer Abeywickrema who flew transport aircraft was transferred to fly light attack turboprop aircraft SIAI-Marchetti SF.260. He also qualified as a

Qualified Flying Instructor A Qualified Flying Instructor is someone who is qualified to conduct flight training for pilots. They may also have other roles in aviation, such as aircraft certification and flight reviews, depending on the jurisdiction. Every country has its own ...

(QFI). In the late 1980s the Sri Lanka Air Force felt the need to reintroduce jet fighters to its fleet having retired its last jet fighters in the late 1970's. Lacking jet qualified pilots, Squadron leader Abeywickrema who had experience on light attack aircraft was selected as the first commanding officer of the No. 5 "Jet" Squadron, when it was formed in 1991under his command following the acquisition of F-7 and F-5 fighters from China, it was the country's first fighter squadron. He was one of the first pilots to qualify in F-7s in 1991 and became the first SLAF pilot to fly supersonic. He led the first sorties over

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

controlled areas soon after they introduced MANPADS and the shoot-down two of two

Avro 748 __NOTOC__ Year 748 (Roman numerals, DCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 748 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno ...

killing over 100 military personnel including the SLAF Northern Zonal Commander, Wing Commander Roger Weerasinghe and Wing Commander Shirantha Goonatilake in April 1995. He was instrumental in selecting the

IAI Kfir , abbreviated , is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to sudden attacks.Christensen, Karen and Allen Guttmann et.al (2001) ''International Encyclopedia of Women and Sports ...

s for the SLAF, which he qualified in 1996. Having attended the

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 ...

, Air University; he was appointed Commandant of the No. 1 Flying Training Wing and went on to serve as the Commanding Officer of SLAF Palaly, Base Commander of

SLAF China Bay SLAF may refer to *The Sri Lanka Armed Forces, the combined military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka **The Sri Lanka Air Force, a subset of the above. {{Disambig ...

, SLAF Anuradhapura and SLAF Rathmalana following which he became the Zonal Commander East and Chief Instructor of Air Wing of the Defence Services Command and Staff College. He graduated from

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

. At the Air Force Headquarters, he was appointed to the Air Force Board of Management as the Director Operations in year 2006 and thereafter as the Director Air Operations. He was subsequently appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff whilst continuing as the Director Air Operations in year 2008, and in year 2011 he was entrusted to overlook the duties of the Director Logistics in addition to his appointment as the Deputy Chief of Staff. At the Air Force Headquarters, Air Commodore Abeywickrama was appointed to the Air Force Board of Management as the Director Operations in 2006 and thereafter served a stint as the Director Air Operations at SLAF Colombo where he spearheaded air operations that brought about the successful conclusion of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. In 2008, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff and promoted to the rank of

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

, while serving as Director Air Operations and in 2011 was given the role of Director Logistics while serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff. In February 2011, he was appointed Commander of the Air Force having been promoted to the rank of Air Marshal. In 2014 he retired from the Air Force and was promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal. Air Chief Marshal Abeywickrema has been awarded the gallantry medals

Rana Wickrama Padakkama The Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP, Combat Gallantry Medal) ( Sinhala: රණ වික්‍රම පදක්කම) is awarded to Sri Lankan military service personnel serving in both the regular- and volunteer forces as a reward for: Bars ...

and

Rana Sura Padakkama Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP, Combat Excellence Medal) ( Sinhala: රණ ශූර පදක්කම ''rana śūra padakkama'') is awarded to servicepersons of all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka for individua ...

for combat bravery, the service medals

Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV, Distinguished Service Decoration) ( Sinhala: විශිෂ්ට සේවා විභූෂණය ''viṣiṣta sēvā vibhūṣaṇaya'') is awarded to senior officers of the Military of Sri Lanka in rec ...

Uttama Seva Padakkama The Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP, Eminent Service Medal) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: උත්තම සේවා පදක්කම ''uṭṭama sēvā padakkama'') is presented to all ranks of the regular forces of the Military of Sri Lanka, Sri ...

and Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal.

Later work

After his retirement from the Air Force, Abeywickrema was appointed as the Chairman of the largest state bank,

Family

Abeywickrama is married to Neelika a lawyer and they have one son, Kasun. He is an active golfer.

References

External links

Official Website of Sri Lanka Air ForceSri Lanka Air Force Commander
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeywickrama, Harsha Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force Sri Lankan Air Chief Marshals Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan aviators Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of King's College London Alumni of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies Air Command and Staff College alumni Sri Lanka Air Force Academy graduates 1960 births Living people