President Promotes Commander of the Army to Four Star General Rank & Appoints Him Chief of Defence Staff

HE the President Maithripala Sirisena, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has promoted the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Crisanthe De Silva RWP VSV USP ndu psc, to the rank of General to be effective from Tuesday (27 June 2017) and appointed him as the Chief of Defence Staff.

He has been serving as the 21st Commander of the Sri Lanka Army to-date since 22 February 2015.

Enlisted to the Army on 6th February 1980 and commissioned afterwards on 18th July 1981 as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Sri Lanka Engineers, he counts an exemplary service career spanning over 37 years in the Army.

He was subsequently promoted to the ranks of Captain (1985), Major (1989), Lieutenant Colonel (1994), Colonel (1997), Brigadier (2003) and Major General on 30 November 2009. Upon his assumption of the Army Commander’s Office on 22 February 2015, he was elevated to the rank of Lieutenant General.

He took office as the Chief of Staff on 1 August 2013 before undertaking an overseas assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow on 16 May 2014.

General Crisanthe De Silva, who has wide-ranging experience in various command, staff and instructional appointments, commanded the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force as its Commandant before he was appointed the Chief of Staff. He was also the Commander of the Security Force Headquarters, Kilinochchi and has served as Commander of the Forward Maintenance Area-East and Kilinochchi. Further, he commanded the Engineer Brigade, 512 and 562 Infantry Brigades as well.

Blending wide experience and service, General De Silva has held many key staff appointments at the Army Headquarters, including the appointments of Military Secretary, Director Operations, Additional Military Secretary, Director Plans and Colonel (Administration) at the Directorate of Personnel Administration.

In addition, he was the Commandant, Chief Instructor and Directing Staff at the Army Command and Staff College and was the first officer to hold all three appointments. Further, he was the Chief Instructor of the Sri Lanka Military Academy at Diyatalawa and the Commandant of the Sri Lanka School of Military Engineering.

As one of the most distinguished Officers in the Regiment, General De Silva has commanded the 6 Field Engineer Regiment and later served as the Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Sri Lanka Engineers.

He has actively contributed to counter insurgency operations against the LTTE and was awarded the gallantry medals of Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP) and the Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP) for his unblemished military career. He has also been awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV) medal for excellent and distinguished career of uninterrupted service.

To his credit, he has attended a number of local and foreign courses of academic and professional value, including the Young Officers’ Course at the prestigious Military College of Engineering Risalpur, Pakistan, his first overseas course. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and Staff College, Camberley, UK and Higher Command College Nanjing, China. He has also obtained a Masters Degree in Defence Studies from National Resilience Institute (Lembaga Ketahanan Nasional), the equivalent of National Defence University of Indonesia.

In addition, he has attended the Senior Command Course at the College of Combat Mhow India, Bomb Disposal Course at the College of Military Engineering Pune, India, Engineer Officers Combat Engineering Instructor Course, Pune, India, Engineer Officers Earth-moving Plant, Workshop & Construction Plant, Pune, India, Engineer Company Commanders’ Course at the Military College of Engineering Risalpur, Pakistan and the Advanced Security Cooperation Executive Course at the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Hawai, USA.

General De Silva is a proud product of the prestigious Royal College, Colombo and is more popularly known as ‘Crisanthe’ in the organization and among his associates. General De Silva is married to Mrs Nayana De Silva is blessed with twin sons.