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 ...

Jayalath Weerakkody, RWP, VSV, USP is 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 ...

air officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth nations ...

who served as commander of the Air Force from 1999 to 2002. He served as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Early life and education

Educated at Dharmashoka College, Ambalangoda, where he excelled in sports and swimming.

SLAF career

Weerakkody 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 Air ...

in the general duties pilot branch in the officer cadet intake 1 of the

Air Force Academy, China Bay The Air Force Academy (AFA) is the Sri Lanka Air Force's training and education academy which provides initial training to all SLAF personnel who are preparing to be commissioned officers. AFA also provides initial training to Officer Cadets of th ...

on 12 January 1972. Serving as a squadron pilot, he became 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 ...

. He went on to command the

No. 4 Squadron SLAF No. 4 (VVIP/VIP) Helicopter Squadron is a squadron of the Sri Lanka Air Force. It currently operates Bell 412/412EP/212/206JR from SLAF Ratmalana for VVIP/VIP Air transport. History Established on January 15, 1971 as No. 4 Helicopter Squadron wi ...

, No. 2 Squadron SLAF and

SLAF Colombo SLAF ''Colombo'' is the Sri Lanka Air Force headquarters in Colombo. In this capacity it has the offices of the Commander of the Air Force, Chief of Staff, the Board of Management (BOM) and Board of Directors (BOD) of the Sri Lanka Air Force. All ...

. Weerakkody served as the Senior Air Staff Officer, Base Commander

SLAF Anuradhapura 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 The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව ...

, Northern Zonal Commander, Director Operations and Chief of Staff. He followed the Junior Commanders Course at the

Air Force Administrative College Air Force Administrative College (AFAC), located at Coimbatore, is one of the oldest training institutes of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Courses offered College conducts following courses for in service officers: * Basic Air Typing Staff Cour ...

, 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 ...

and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He was appointed commander of the Air Force on 6 March 1998 and was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal. During his tenure, the SLAF acquired

MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 (russian: Микоян МиГ-27; NATO reporting name: Flogger-D/J) is a variable-sweep ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-produced in India ...

ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

and upgraded its fleet of trainers by acquiring

Nanchang CJ-6 The Nanchang CJ-6 () is a Chinese basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the Nanchang Aircraft Factory (now Hongdu Aviation) for use by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Development The CJ-6 (Chu Jiao 初教 = Chuji Jiaoli ...

s and

K-8 Karakorum The Hongdu JL-8 (Nanchang JL-8), also known as the Karakorum-8 or K-8 for short, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and a light attack aircraft designed in the People's Republic of China by China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporatio ...

s. He retired on 15 July 2002 and was appointed Sri Lankan High Commissioner to

. In 2007 he was promoted to the rank of

along with nine other former service chiefs. His awards included thrice being awarded the

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 ...

for gallantry and 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 reco ...

and the

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 ...

References

Sri Lanka Air Force - Air Marshal J Weerakkody

, - Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force Sri Lankan Air Chief Marshals Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan aviators High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to Pakistan Living people Air Command and Staff College alumni Sri Lanka Air Force Academy graduates Alumni of Dharmasoka College Year of birth missing (living people) National Defence College, India alumni {{SriLanka-mil-bio-stub

Early life and education

SLAF career

See also

References