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 ...

Prasanna Wickramasuriya, WWV, RWP, RSP is a highly decorated (retired)

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 ...

officer who served as

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. As a two time recipient of the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya (WWV), the highest wartime military decoration awarded non-posthumously by

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 ...

, Wickramasuriya is one of the most highly decorated Sri Lankan military officers. During Wickramasuriya's tenure as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd, he oversaw the construction and development of

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) ( si, මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Mattala Rājapakṣa Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, மத்தல ரா ...

, Sri Lanka’s second

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

Family and education

Wickramasuriya was born in Matara to an family descending from local headmen. He is the younger son of Pema and Kamala Wickramasuriya née Rajapaksa, daughter of D. M. Rajapaksa and he is a first cousin of

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

who served as President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015.

Jaliya Wickramasuriya Jaliya Wickramasuriya is a Sri Lankan businessmen. A close relative of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2014, until the US government asked the Sri Lankan government to r ...

is his elder brother and he was the brother-in-law of

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 ...

A. F. Lafir Colonel (Sri Lanka), Colonel Aslam Fazly Laphir, Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, PWV, Rana Wickrama Padakkama, RWP, Rana Sura Padakkama, RSP, Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment, SF (last name also spelled Laffeer; 1958 - 19 July 1996) was a Sri Lan ...

. He was educated at

Nalanda College, Colombo Nalanda CollegeG 498 ...

Military career

Having joined the army after completing his schooling as a

cadet officer St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI), previously known as the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, is a charitable Volunteering, voluntary organisation in Ireland. For constitutional reasons it is not a full member association of the Venerable Ord ...

, he under went officer training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy at

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 destina ...

. Completing his training in 1983, 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

Rajarata Rifles The Rajarata Rifles was a former rifle regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. It was one of only three geographically based regiments in the Sri Lanka army. The cap badge of the Raja Rata Rifles show the figure of a ''Bherunda Pakshiya'' (Double-headed ...

. Following the disbanding of the Rajarata Rifles, he was transferred to the newly formed

Gajaba Regiment The Gajaba Regiment (GR) is an elite infantry regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Formed on 14 October 1983 at the Saliyapura Camp in Anuradhapura, it is named after the famous Sinhalese warrior King Gajabahu the First. It consists of 14 regula ...

. There he served as special operations platoon commander,

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 ...

in operations in Jaffna with the on set of the Tamil Militancy and took part in the Vadamarachchi Operation when he was shot in the chest and evacuated by air to the Military Hospital in Pallali. In 1994, while serving as the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

of the Kotelawala Defence Academy, he was able to detect by chance a

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

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

in Colombo. In 1997, as a

battalion commander A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

of the 1st Gajaba Regiment, he took part in the

Operation Jayasikurui Operation Jayasikurui (''Certain Victory'' in Sinhala), was a Sri Lankan military operation launched on 13 May 1997, it lasted until 1999, when it was called off. The operation was initially launched for 6 months but cancelled after 18 month ...

and was present at the

Thandikulam–Omanthai offensive The Thandikulam–Omanthai offensive was a battle for the control of the towns of Thandikulam and Omanthai in Sri Lanka in June 1997. Battle The battle began on June 10, 1997, when LTTE fighters attacked the garrison at Thandikulam. They de ...

. He retired from the army in 1998 with the rank of

and during his career, he had been awarded Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya two times,

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 individua ...

and 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 ...

Later work

Following his retirement from the army, Wickramasuirya worked with his brother in exporting tea. He was appointed as Chairman Airport and Aviation Services Limited by President

in 2010.Col. Wickramasuriya reappointed
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wickramasuriya, Prasanna Sri Lankan Buddhists Gajaba Regiment officers Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Living people Rajapaksa family Sinhalese military personnel Year of birth missing (living people)