The President's Guard was a former unit of the

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

. It was responsible for the security of the

President of Sri Lanka The president of Sri Lanka ( ''Śrī Laṅkā Janādhipati''; ''Ilaṇkai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union governm ...

along with the President's Security Division which is the close protection agency of the President. It was made up of personnel from other regiments and units assigned for President's protection.

Formation

Since the formation of the Ceylon Army, the Army had allocated personal for the protection of the Governor General and the Prime Minister during peacetime and during emergencies. A permanent detachment of armored cars was present at Temple Trees during the 1960s and 1970s. Prior to the formation of the President's Guard, army personnel served as a squadron under the President's Security Division since 1996 and focused on key tasks including the perimeter security of Presidential residence,

Temple Trees Temple Trees is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. It is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Several recent presidents have used it as their official residence as well. History Private residence The history of ''Temple Tree ...

. The 5th Regiment Sri Lanka Armoured Corps was the first army unit chosen to provide the dedicated security for the President of Sri Lanka during the presidency of

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. She is the longest-servi ...

. Lieutenant Kushan Perera spearheaded the close protection team of Kumaratunga during her visit to the United States and the United Kingdom. Later the strength of the unit was increased with personnel from the

Sri Lanka Light Infantry The Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) is the oldest regiment in the Sri Lanka Army and the oldest infantry regiment in the army. It is made up of sixteen regular battalions and nine volunteer battalions, and is headquartered at the Panagoda Cantonme ...

, Sri Lanka

Sinha Regiment The Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිංහ රෙජිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṃkā Sinha Rejimēnthuva'') is an infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army; it is the second oldest infantry re ...

and the

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 King Gajabahu the First. It consists of 14 regular battali ...

. After the unit's formation in 2008, all army personnel came under the command of this unit independent from the President's Security Division which is primarily made up of and commanded by

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

personnel. This unit has participated in the Independence Day and victory day parades of 2009. In April 2015, President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...

dissolved the President's Guard.Army personnel removed from Presidential Guard
/ref>

References

External links

Sri Lanka Army

The Investiture ceremony of Insignia of the "President's Guard" is held at presidential secretariat
{{Sri Lanka Army Regiments Disbanded regiments of the Sri Lankan Army Former guards regiments Military units and formations established in 2008 Military units and formations disestablished in 2015 Protective security units