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 ...

Jagath Gunawardena, RSP, VSV, USP was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n senior army general. He was the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army, having served as the

Commandant of the Volunteer Force Commandant Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) has been the title of the head of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of major general and is the fourth senior position in the army. Commandant is i ...

, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – Wanni and

Master General of Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

. He served as the Colonel Commandant of the

Sri Lanka Engineers The Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) is a combat support arm of the Sri Lanka Army which provides military engineering. It is made up of ten regular regiments and one volunteer regiment. Headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, it is headed by the Centre C ...

Early life and education

Born in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

on 15 December 1965, Gunawardena was educated at

D. S. Senanayake College D. S. Senanayake College ( டி.எஸ் சேனாநாயக்க கல்லூரி ''D. S. Senanayaka Vidyalaya'', also referred to as DS and DSSC) is a Single-sex education, boys' Primary school, primary and Secondary school, sec ...

. He has gained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(Honours) degree in

War Studies War studies, sometimes called polemology, is the multi-disciplinary study of war. It pertains to the military, diplomatic, philosophical, social, political, psychological or economic dimensions of human conflict. The word ''polemology'' derives ...

from the University of Baluchistan, a Masters in Defence Studies from the

University of Kelaniya Pannaya Parisujjhati , mottoeng = Self-purification is by insight , established = 1875 Vidyalankara Pirivena1959 Vidyalankara University , type = Public , endowment = , adminis ...

, a Post Graduate Diploma with Merit in Conflict Resolution and Peace Preparedness, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

with Merit in Conflict Resolution from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

, a Master in National Security Administration from the

University of Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

, a Diploma in Senior Level Defence Management from University of Indore and Diploma in Human Rights from Institute of Human Rights, Colombo. His father was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

Military career

Early career

Gunawardena joined the Regular Force of Sri Lanka Army on 18 January 1985. Following his basic officer 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 was commissioned 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 ...

in the 1 Field Engineer Regiment, Sri Lanka Engineers and attended the Young Officers Course at the

College of Military Engineering, Pune College of Military Engineering (CME) is a technical and tactical engineering training institution of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. Training of Combat Engineers, Military Engineering Service, Border Roads Engineering Ser ...

. He served as a field engineering officer in several operations as the Sri Lankan Civil War escalated and was wounded in 1991 during

Operation Balavegaya Operation Balavegaya (Operation Power force) was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna, the largest amphibious assault in its history. Operation Balavegaya was launched in response to the siege of Elephant ...

. Having completed the Mid Career Course and Bomb Disposal Course at the Military College of Engineering, Risalpur he served as the

officer commanding The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, ...

of the

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the militar ...

(EOD) Unit of the Sri Lanka Engineers.

Field command and staff appointments

Gunawardena attended the

Army Command and Staff College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...

in its second intake and won the ‘Commandant's Golden Pen’ award for best research paper in 1999 and later attended the

Command and Staff College, Quetta ( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India) , closed ...

. He served as GSO III (Operations) in a Divisional HQ and GSO II at the Colombo Military Hospital. Gunawardena had served as an officer instructor, adjutant and staff officer at the

and Directing Staff at the

Defence Services Command and Staff College The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from Colombo and its aim to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of experienced officers of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri ...

he had served as the head of the training team, army wing. Having been promoted to the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, he served 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 8 Field Engineer Regiment and 6 Field Engineer Regiment in 2003. During this time he was the head of the mine action technical committee in Vavuniya. Later he served as the GSO I (Operations) in the Reserve Strike Force ( 53 Division), GSO I (Training) at Army Headquarters, and Colonel General Staff of the 56 Division. He attended the Senior Command Course at

Army War College, Mhow The Army War College, Dr.Ambedkar Nagar (A.W.C.) is a defence service training and research institution of the Indian Army located in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. It develops and evaluates concepts and doctrines for tactics and logistics for the army. ...

and graduated from the

National Defense College of the Philippines The National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) ( fil, Dalubhasaan ng Tanggulang Pambansa ng Pilipinas) is an educational, training, and research agency of the Philippine government located inside Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon ...

Higher command

He was the

brigade commander A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

, 524 Infantry Brigade and centre commandant, Sri Lanka Engineers. Serving as brigade commander, Engineer Brigade; he established the first CBRN squadron of the army, which later became the 14 CBRN Regiment, Sri Lanka Engineers and took part in the Sri Lanka Army Rescue Operations Contingent sent to aid in the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...

. He had served as the general officer commanding, 57 Division; principal staff officer to the Commander of the Army; Deputy Military Liaison Officer, Ministry of Defence; Director Plans, Army Headquarters and was

in February 2018. Thereafter he was appointed Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – Wanni, serving until his appointment as

. He was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Engineers on 25 July 2019. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army on 2 May 2020.

Decorations

Gunawardena has been awarded the

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 individual ...

for gallantry, the

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 reco ...

and

Uttama Seva Padakkama The Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP, Eminent Service Medal) ( Sinhala: උත්තම සේවා පදක්කම ''uṭṭama sēvā padakkama'') is presented to all ranks of the regular forces of the Sri Lankan military for: Award process Th ...

for distinguished service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunawardena, Jagath 1965 births Living people People from Colombo Sri Lankan major generals Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan military engineers Alumni of D. S. Senanayake College Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates Defence Services Command and Staff College graduates University of Balochistan alumni Alumni of the University of Bradford University of the Philippines alumni Sri Lankan expatriates in Pakistan Sri Lanka Engineers officers