Commander in Moving Gesture Extends Warm Wishes to his Retiring Batch Mate

Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Army on Wednesday (23) in a touching moment bade farewell to the second most Senior Officer of the Sri Lanka Army who is also his batch mate, Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu, Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army on the eve of his retirement.

Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu, Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army after an illustrious service of more than 36 years as an infantry officer of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment was invited to the office of Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage, together with his family members, prior to his retirement.

Having served the Army in an exemplary manner, during the meet with the Army Chief, Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu, received appreciative compliments and best wishes from his batch mate who took him a walk down the memory lane tracing the first day of their enlistment to the Army.

Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Army commended his retiring comrade-in-arms, his working capacity, commitment and dedication to the Army as an infantry officer and gratefully recalled his heroic acts in the battlefield.

“You never wanted to leave your responsibilities unattended or neglected as you were a workaholic, fully committed to the cause for the best interest of the country. You held the Army flag flying high all the time and fulfilled your duties to the satisfaction of your peers,” the Army Chief commented.

He also refreshed memories of the retiree’s contribution and valuable roles during the height of the war against terrorism before May 2009 as an infantry officer of the highest caliber.

The Commander also shared a couple of pleasantries with Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu about their good old officer cadet days.

The Army Chief also highly commended the retiring Major General’s family members for their support given to the retiring Chief of Staff during his tenure of duty and inquired into his future endeavours and plans. In a moving gesture, Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage held his hands and wished his batch mate best of luck before the meeting ended.

Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu also in turn thanked the Commander of the Army for his warm wishes and guidance while mentioning the encouragement he received in the performance of his duties.

Towards the end of the interaction, Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage awarded a special memento to the outgoing Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu as a symbol of appreciation and commendation, along with special gifts to the family.

Major General T.J Kodithuwakku RWP RSP ndu enlisted to the Sri Lanka Army on 10 October 1986 and upon successful completion of basic military training in the Intake 26 of the Sri Lanka Military Academy, was commissioned in the rank of Second Lieutenant and posted to the Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Major General on 14 May 2020.

Before he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Army on 6 June 2022, he held a number of key appointments in the organization such as Platoon Commander, Officer Commanding, Adjutant, General Staff Officer II, Second In Command, United Nations Military Observer in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), General Staff Officer I, Commanding Officer, Centre Commandant of Regimental Centre, Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Brigade Commander of 532 and 512 Infantry Brigade, Commandant of Infantry Training Centre, Military Liason Officer of Ministry of Defence, Commandant of Army Training School, General Officer Commanding of 66 Infantry Division, Quarter Master General, Colonel of the Regiment, Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Commander Security Forces Jaffna and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army.

He has followed a number of local and overseas military courses, inclusive of the Special Young Officer Course, Pakistan, Junior Command Course, India, Military Observer and Civilian Police Officers Peacekeeping Training Course, Iran, Para Basic Course, India, International Humanitarian Law Course, UK, Unit Command Course (Infantry), Bangladesh, Senior Command Course, India, APCSS “Comprehensive Crisis Management”, USA, Master Regular Education Programme of Lemhannas PPRA, Indonesia and Northeast Asia/South Asia Region Pacific Area Security Sector Working Group (PASSWG 2014) in Mongolia.

Furthermore, he has followed many a non-military course, comprised of Master of Human Resource Management, University of Colombo, Master of Education of Strategic and Resilience Studies, National Resilience Institute, Indonesia, Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Advancement, University of Colombo, Postgraduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution and Security Studies, University of Bradford, UK, Diploma in Psychology, Institute of Psychological Studies, Advanced Certificate in Guidance and Counselling, Institute of Psychological Studies, Certificate Course in Geographic Information System and Applications, University of Jayewardenepura, Certificate Course in Comprehensive Crisis Management, Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, USA and Programme on Secretarial Practice, National Institute of Business Management.

For his bravery and gallantry in the battlefield, he has been awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP) and the Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) in addition to several other medals that recognized his dedicated service to the country.