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Sri Lanka Army

Defender of the Nation

15th December 2015 00:56:58 Hours

2nd Seminar at Buttala OCDC Explores Enhancement of "Professional Competency & Self Development"

A three-day long seminar themed on “Professional Competency and Self-development; a Complementary Partnership Imperative to Officers” designed for senior and middle rank officers, was inaugurated Monday (14) morning at Officer Career Development Centre (OCDC) at Buttala with the participation of the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva as the Chief Guest.

The ceremonial inaugural sessions got to a start soon after Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, together with a few others lit the traditional oil lamp, followed by the welcome speech, delivered by Brigadier Ralph Nugera, Commandant, OCDC.

In his keynote address, the day’s Chief Guest observed that officers expecting to be fully-fledged in the future to take on future responsibilities and challenges of the Army and other services, need to be well-versed in all spheres of knowledge, be it on regional, global or otherwise, if contemporary issues that are unfolding every hour world-wide to be placed in the correct perspective and context.

The three-day Session has been sub divided into three major areas of importance under ‘Military Knowledge’ (Day 1), ‘Personal Development’ (Day 2) and ‘Awareness of Internal and External Affairs’ (Day 3).  

Session 1 of the seminar under the sub theme ‘Principles of War in the Information Age’ is to cover topics such as ‘The Impact of Technology and Modernization on the Principles of War’, The Challenges  for Land Force Military Leadership in the Context of Rapidly Changing  Threats’ and the Session 2 is to debate on topics such as ‘Human Resources and Legal Aspect’ the participants will contribute on theme such as ‘Familiarization with Changing Security Environment and Challengers in Force Management’, ‘The Rule of Law and the Soldier; an Officers' Responsibility in Peace Time and War’, ‘Annual Confidential Reports and Its Impact on Career Development of Young Officers and Middle Grade Officers, ‘The Changing Face of War ;  Current and Future Trends in Asymmetric Warfare’.

In the Sessions 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 under the ‘Personal Development’ theme, topics such as ‘Psychological Impact on Performances’, ‘Effects of Stress and Commanders Responsibility’, ‘Motivation as a Tool to Enhance Effectiveness’, ‘Self motivation’, ‘Motivation of Troops and Commanders Responsibility’, ‘Importance of Foreign Training in the Sri Lanka Army’, ‘Officers Training and Professional Development’, ‘Local Training to Groom Officers to Meet the Future Challenges’, ‘Impact of Alcohol, Smoking and Drugs on Good Health’, ‘Health and Prevention of Addiction’, ‘Health and Nutrition’, etc would be taken up for discussion.

During concluding Sessions 8, 9 and 10 on Day 3, the participants will have a broader exposure to topics such as‘Developments in National Policy’, ‘Constitution and Its Amendments’, ‘19th Amendment and Its Implications’, ‘External Affairs’, ‘New Development in Foreign Policy’and ‘Human Rights and International Involvement’.            

The seminar, attended by 25 Lieutenant Colonels and 35 Majors consists of ten sessions where the participating officers would work in syndicate groups for combined activities.

Mr Pubudu Sumanasekara, Executive Director, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC), Mr Sathees Mohandas, Lecturer, Department of Strategic Studies, Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), Mr. C.A.H.M. Wijerathne, Director General (Legal) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mrs Nirmali Wijegoonawardane, Lecturer, Department of History, University of Colombo and Army resource personnel, Major General Janaka Walgama, Major General B.A. Perera, Major General D.D.U.K. Hettiarachchi, Brigadier Aruna Jayasekara, Brigadier Ralph Nugera and a few other senior officers will share their thoughts during the sessions.

The OCDC, established as an academic forum to promote the professional knowledge of tri-service officers and the Police, has been instrumental in organizing seminars of this nature in the past few years since its founding. This is the second seminar conducted by the OCDC for the year 2015.

Brigadier Ralph Nugera, Commandant, OCDC, expressing the OCDC’s appreciation to the Commander for his inaugural address, presented a symbolic memento to him on the occasion.