Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Sumith Balasuriya,
VSV,
USP is a retired Sri Lankan army general, who was the former
Commandant of the Volunteer Force Commandant Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) has been the title of the head of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of major general and is the fourth senior position in the army. Commandant is i ...
;
Vice Chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...
,
and
GOC,
23 Division.
Educated at
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 ...
, Balasuriya joined the army in 1974 after completing basic training at the
Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa
The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the Sri Lanka Army's training centre where officer cadets are trained for getting commission. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatalawa ...
, he was commissioned in to the
Sri Lanka Artillery
The Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) is the artillery arm of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of ten regular regiments and two volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda.
The emblem of the SLA is modeled after that ...
in 1975 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 ...
. Having served as an Instructor Gunnery, he went to become the
Colonel-Commandant, Sri Lanka Artillery in 2009.
Having completed
staff college
Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For ex ...
and graduated of the
National Defence College, India
The National Defence College, located in New Delhi, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Defence Service and the Civil Services. This is a very prestigious course attended only b ...
, he held several senior command and staff appointments in the army, including General Officer Commanding, 23 Division; Director General Financial Management, Army Headquarters; Military Co-ordinating Officer, Trincomalee. Becoming the Vice Chancellor Commandant of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, he was tipped to become the
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. However he was appointed as Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force.
He retired from the army in 2010.
He was awarded the
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 ...
(USP), the
, the
Riviresa Campaign Services Medal
The Riviresa Campaign Services Medal ( Sinhala: රිවිරැස මෙහෙයුම් පදක්කම ''riviræsa meheyum padakkama'') was a campaign medal presented to all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of ...
, the
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 ...
and the
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 ...
.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasuriya, Sumith
Sri Lankan major generals
Year of birth missing (living people)
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Commandants of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
Living people
Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates
Sinhalese military personnel