17th January 2016 03:10:34 Hours
The customary Passing out Parade of the 10th Sri Lanka Army contingent for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) set to leave for Lebanon was held at the Regimental Headquarters, Gajaba Regiment, (RHQ GR) Saliyapura on Saturday (16).
Lebanon-bound Sri Lanka’s Force Protection Unit (SLFPU) contingent is comprised of 10 officers and 140 other rankers and it has been made up of with the troops from Sri Lanka Engineers (04), Sri Lanka Signal Corps (04), Gajaba Regiment (71), Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (08), Mechanized Infantry Regiment (22), Commando Regiment (13), Special Forces (08), Corps of Engineer Services (02), Sri Lanka Army Service Corps (04), Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (02), Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps (02), Sri Lanka Engineers and Mechanical Engineers (04), Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police (02) and Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps (02).
The Special Force segment will accompany 04 sniffing dogs for VIP duties in Lebanon.
The formal Passing Out Parade of the 150 – strong SLFPU at the Gajaba Regiment (GR) Headquarters at Saliyapura on Saturday (16) saw the contingent accord a salute to their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dinesh Udugama in the presence of a gathering of senior officers and next of kin of the troops before their departure for Lebanon in separate segments.
Major General Lalith Dawulugala, Colonel of the Regiment GR attended as the Chief Guest and reviewed the parade.
The first advance party of the SLFPU contingent (five officers including the Commanding Officer and thirty other rankers) is scheduled to leave for Lebanon during the first week in February to assume duties.
The SLFPU in Lebanon, responsible for security and VIP duties at the UNIFIL Force Headquarters – Naquoura controls all the access routes to the UNIFIL Headquarters and is under command to the Force Headquarters Support Unit (FHQSU) which is directly under the Force Commander.
Since the year 2010, Sri Lanka Army has so far dispatched 9 such contingents to serve in Lebanon at the request of the UNIFIL.
