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 ...
J.A.L Jayasinghe
PWV,
WWV,
RWP,
RSP,
SF was an officer of the
Special Forces Regiment
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
of 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 ...
who was twice decorated with the
Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya (WWV) the second highest award for combat bravery in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. He was killed in November 2008, while leading an eight-man Special Forces team on a
covert operation
A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are performe ...
30 km behind enemy lines into territory held 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 ...
(LTTE).
Education and family
Jayasinghe was educated at Avissawella President's College (Previously Nava Kanishta Vidyalaya) and Lumbini College Colombo 05. He was also a member of the school's
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
team.
He married Kaushalya Rodrigo in January 2008, at the time of his death in November 2008 she was five months pregnant.
Military career
Jayasinghe enlisted to the Regular Force of 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 ...
on 22 January 1997, as a
cadet officer
St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI), previously known as the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, is a charitable voluntary organisation in Ireland. For constitutional reasons it is not a full member association of the Venerable Order of Saint Jo ...
. He received training at the
Bangladesh Military Academy
Bangladesh Military Academy (BMA) is the officers training institute for the officer cadets of Bangladesh Army. It is located in Bhatiary, near Chittagong Hill Tracts, in the Chittagong District of south-east Bangladesh, about 13 kilometres ...
, where he followed Course 3 offered by the college. On completion of his training, Jayasinghe 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 ...
to the 6th Regiment of the
Gemunu Watch
The Gemunu Watch (GW) ("King Dutugemunu's Own") is a infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army, formed with troops from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Ceylon Light Infantry and the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, Ceylon Sinha Regiment in 1962. It has bee ...
. He was later selected to undergo
Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
training. After following Special Forces Training Course–24, which he successfully completed, he received Special Forces
credentials following which He was then assigned to the
3rd Special Forces Regiment.
In addition to basic training, Jayasignhe had undergone several specialized training courses, both locally and overseas. These include the successful completion of training courses offered by
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. He had also received training in military training centers of the Sri Lanka Army in
Minneriya
Minneriya ( Sinhala: මින්නේරිය) is a small town in Sri Lanka that is famous for two things — the great Minneriya lake built by King Mahasen and Minneriya National Park which is a hot spot for safari lovers because of its abundan ...
,
Ganemulla
Founded during the British era, Ganemulla ( si, ගණේමුල්ල, ta, கணேமுல்ல) is a midsize town situated in the Gampaha District of Sri Lanka. Ganemulla is about from Kadawatha on the Colombo-Kandy road. The nearest ...
,
Uva Kudaoya and
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 ...
areas. Jayasinghe was promoted to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, and later, to the rank of
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
within a time period of ten years. He had functioned as a
platoon commander
{{unreferenced, date=February 2013
A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or firs ...
,
company commander
A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by country, ...
and also a
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 ...
during this time.
A recipient of the
Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya (twice),
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 ...
,
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 ...
gallantry medals he had also received the
Desha Putra Sammanaya
The Desha Putra Sammanaya ( Sinhala: දේශ පුත්ර සම්මානය ''dēsha puthra sammānaya''; Son of the Nation Award) is a military decoration awarded as a wound medal to servicepersons of the Military of Sri Lanka, equi ...
,
North and East Operations Medal
The North and East Operations Medal ( Sinhala: උතුරු නැගෙනහිර සංග්රාමික පදක්කම ''uthuru nægenahira sangrāmika padakkama'') was a decoration presented to servicepersons of the Military o ...
,
Purna Bhumi Padakkama
The Purna Bhumi Padakkama ( Sinhala: පූර්ණ භූමි පදක්කම ''pūrna bhūmi padakkama'') was a service medal awarded by the Military of Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democ ...
, Sri Lanka Army 50th Anniversary Medal and 50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal.
Jayasinghe was a specialist in
long range reconnaissance patrol
A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP (pronounced "lurp"), is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ...
operations, and had helped achieve many victories for the Sri Lanka Army during the
Sri Lankan Civil War. This includes participating in the neutralisation of
Vaithilingam Sornalingam
Vaithilingam Sornalingam (September 1949 – 26 September 2001; ta, வைத்தியலிங்கம் சொர்ணலிங்கம், alternative spellings include Vythilingam Sornalingam; often referred to by his ''nom de guerr ...
, alias Colonel Shankar, a senior commander of the
LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
, its intelligence leader Charles (killed in January 2008), and Sea Tiger Deputy Leader Kangai Amaran in June 2001.
He was posthumously awarded the Parama Weera Vibushanaya on 19 May 2012 during the country's victory day parade by the pعresident of Sri Lanka.
Death
Jayasinghe was killed in November 2008, during a
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
mission in LTTE held territory. Leading an eight-man Special Forces team, he had infiltrated thirty kilometers behind enemy lines into the Oddusudan area in LTTE enemy territory and conducted an attack. After completing the first attack, the team had been moving on to a second target when they were spotted by LTTE cadres. Jayasinghe was wounded in the ensuing confrontation, and his team withdrew to a safer location with their wounded team leader. They were spotted again by the LTTE, and in the second confrontation Jayasinghe was killed, while another member of the eight man team was wounded.
A rescue operation was later carried out to rescue the Special Forces team, with the assistance of
Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been o ...
helicopter gunships of the
Sri Lanka 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 ...
. All seven members of the team were extracted, along with Jayasinghe's body.
He was posthumously 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 ...
. His funeral was held in Ukwatta, his home town, on 1 December 2008 with full military honours.
See also
*
*
Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment
The Special Forces Regiment (SF) ( Sinhala: විශේෂ බලකාය ''Visēsha Balakāya''; Tamil: சிறப்பு படைகள் ரெஜிமென்ட்) is a special forces unit of the Sri Lanka Army. Founded in 1986 ...
*
Awards and decorations of the military of Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan Armed Forces award medals and their associated ribbon bars in recognition of various levels of service, personal accomplishments and commemorative events while a regular- or volunteer serviceperson is a member of the Sri Lanka Arm ...
He was awarded the highest award a military personal could ever take 'Parama Weera Vibushana' Medal on 19 May 2012, for his historical contribution to the mother land.
References
External links
Sri Lanka ArmyMinistry of Defence : Sri LankaMedia Center for National Security : Sri LankaSPUR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayasinghe, Lalith
1974 births
2008 deaths
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Lumbini College alumni
Sri Lankan military personnel killed in action
Gemunu Watch officers
Special Forces Regiment officers
Recipients of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya
Sri Lankan lieutenant colonels