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 ...

Kolitha Gunathilake, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc, qfi is a Sri Lankan

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 and ...

and a former Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force.

Education

Educated at S. Thomas' College, Bandarawela and

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 ...

, he 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. 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 countri ...

. He holds a MSc (Defence Studies) 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 ...

. Gunathilake is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Pakistan; Joint Air Warfare College of India; 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 and the National Defense College. He has undergone a number of training courses and is 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 ...

SLAF career

Gunatilleke joined the Sri Lanka Air Force as an

of the 8th Intake in the General Duties Pilot Branch in 1980. He graduated from 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 ...

and was commissioned a

in 1982 soon thereafter he qualified as a pilot having completed basic and advanced flying training. Having been assigned to the No 2 Transport Squadron, he flew heavy transport aircraft of the air force and became a flying instructor after training in the Pakistan Air Force. Later he flew

SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 The SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 (now Leonardo SF-260) is an Italian light aircraft which has been commonly marketed as a military trainer and aerobatics aircraft. The SF.260 was designed by Italian aircraft designer Stelio Frati, while production wo ...

and the IA 58 Pucara in ground attack role against

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

targets. Gunatilleke also served as the Staff Officer Operations at Air Force Headquarters. He went on to command the No 1 Flying Training Wing and No 2 Transport Squadron as well as served as the

Base Commander The base commander is the officer assigned to command a military base. In the United States armed forces, a base commander is generally at least an O-6 grade officer, which means colonel (Army, Air Force, Marines) or captain (Navy, Coast Guard). ...

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

and

SLAF Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) ( si, බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, பண்டாரநாயக்க � ...

. In 2008, he was appointed as the Director Training at Air Force Headquarters and was thereafter appointed as Director Air Operations. Later he was appointed

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the Air Force and held the post until he was promoted as Commander of the Air Force with the rank of Air Marshal. Having step downed from the post of Commander of the Air Force in June 2015, he was appointed as Chief of Defence Staff and promoted to the rank of

. Air Marshal Gunathilake 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 individual ...

for individual acts of bravery in combat, 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 ...

(VSV),

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 ...

and

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 ...

Sports

A Badminton player, Gunatilleke was a member of the Badminton National Pool. He was the President National Rifle Association of Sri Lanka and Chairman Selection Committee -Badminton. At present he is the Chairman of the National Selection Committee.

Family

He is married to Roshani, they have a daughter, Anushka.

References

External links

Official Website of Sri Lanka Air Force
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunathilake, Kolitha Chief of the Defence Staff (Sri Lanka) Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force Sri Lanka Air Force air marshals Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan aviators Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Air Command and Staff College alumni Sri Lanka Air Force Academy graduates Living people Year of birth missing (living people)