Overall Operations Commander is the title held by the most senior commander in a
theatre of operation at certain times in
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 ...
.
History
It originated as a term Officer Commanding Troops of the
Ceylon Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
, when a senior officer was put in charge of multiple units in a geographical area. With the escalation of the
Tamil militancy in the Jaffna Peninsula, President
J. R. Jayawardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...
dispatched Brigadier
Tissa Weeratunga
General Tissa Indraka Weeratunga, VSV (August 29, 1930 – November 2003) was a Sri Lankan senior army officer. He was a former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1981 – 1985) and first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Joint Oper ...
to Jaffna as Commander Security Forces - Jaffna, with extensive powers under the provisions of
Prevention of Terrorism (Special Provisions) Act No: 48 of 1979. Brigadier Weeratunga served as Commander Security Forces - Jaffna from 13 July 1979 to 31 December 1979 undertaking counter insurgency operations to reduce militant activities. In October 1981, Brigadier
J. G. Balthazar
Brigadier Jerome Gautier "Lyle" Balthazar was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer who served as Commander, Security Forces Jaffna and Chief of Staff of the Army.
Early life and education
Born in the east coast town of Batticalo, Balthazar was educat ...
was appointed Commander Security Forces - Jaffna following an increase of militant activities.
List of Commanders
*Brigadier
Tissa Weeratunga
General Tissa Indraka Weeratunga, VSV (August 29, 1930 – November 2003) was a Sri Lankan senior army officer. He was a former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1981 – 1985) and first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Joint Oper ...
- Commander Security Forces - Jaffna (1979)
*Brigadier
J. G. Balthazar
Brigadier Jerome Gautier "Lyle" Balthazar was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer who served as Commander, Security Forces Jaffna and Chief of Staff of the Army.
Early life and education
Born in the east coast town of Batticalo, Balthazar was educat ...
- Commander Security Forces - Jaffna (1981-1984)
*Brigadier
Nalin Seneviratne
General Ganegoda Appuhamelage Don Granville Nalin Seneviratne, VSV (August 25, 1931 – August 12, 2009) was a Sri Lankan Army officer. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1985 to 1988 and first Governor of the North East Provi ...
- Commander Security Forces - Jaffna (1984-1985)
*Brigadier
G. H. De Silva - Overall Operations Commander,
Operation Liberation
Operation Liberation also known as the Vadamarachchi Operation was the military offensive carried out by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in May and June 1987 to recapture the territory of Vadamarachchi in the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE, LTTE (T ...
(1987)
*Major General
Denzil Kobbekaduwa
Lieutenant General Denzil Lakshman Kobbekaduwa, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP ( si, ඩෙන්සිල් ලක්ෂ්මණ් කොබ්බෑකඩුව; 27 July 1940 – 8 August 1992) was a senior Sri Lankan Army officer who served in t ...
- Overall Operations Commander, Northern Sector (1990-1992)
*Major General
Rohan Daluwatte
General Rohan De Silva Daluwatte, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (9 May 1941 – 27 August 2018) was a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Army. He served as Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and Chief of the Defence Staff. Following his retirement fr ...
- Overall Operations Commander, North and East (1994-1995)
*Major General
Janaka Perera
Major General Janaka Perera, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP, rcds, psc, CR (1 February 1946 – 6 October 2008) was a Sri Lankan General and politician. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and is considered one of the most d ...
- Overall Operations Commander, North (2000)
*Major General
Shantha Kottegoda
General Shantha H.S. Kottegoda, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (born November 6, 1949) is a retired senior Sri Lanka Army officer. He was the seventeenth Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1 July 2004 – 5 December 2005. He had served as the ...
- Overall Operations Commander, East (2004)
*Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage - Overall Operational Commander,
Overall Operational Command The Overall Operational Command (OOC) was established on 29 April 2019 following the Easter Sunday Bombings bringing under its command all Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Police units within the Western Province a ...
(2019)
See also
*
Operation Combine
References
{{reflist
Sri Lanka Army appointments
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...