Major General S.A.P.P Samarasinghe RSP USP psc, new Chief of Staff of the Army assumed duties Tuesday (20) morning during a simple ceremony at his office at the Army Headquarters.
A brief religious ceremony, headed by Ven Dr Kirinde Assaji Thero invoked blessings on Major General Samarasinghe and his office soon after he lit the traditional oil lamp upon his arrival at the office.
Afterwards, Major General Samarasinghe symbolically signed the first formal document and received greetings from senior officers who were present at the occasion.
Major General S A P P Samarasinghe was serving as 30th Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force before he assumed duties as the Chief of Staff of the Army.
Major General Samarasinghe, a proud product of Ananda College Colombo successfully completed the secondary education in 1979 and joined the Regular Force of the Sri Lanka Army on 28 April 1980 as an Officer Cadet. On successful completion of training at Officer Training School (OTS) in India and Sri Lanka Military Academy Diyatalawa, he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant on 15 December 1980 and posted to Sri Lanka Army Signals Corps which is one of the prestigious units in the Sri Lanka Army.
The professional courses he had followed during his military career included Signal Young Officers’ Course and Mid Career Course in Pakistan, Senior Command Course in India and a course on Electronic Equipment & Electronic Warfare in the United Kingdom. He had achieved the academic excellence from prestigious local and foreign institutions attaining Passed Staff College (psc) at the Command and Staff College, Bangladesh in 1997, Master of Science Degree in Management at Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in 2004 and Post Graduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution and Peace Preparedness at University of Bradford in United Kingdom in 2005.
In his long and illustrious military career spanning over 33 years, Maj Gen Samarasinghe, had gathered an array of military experience in diverse scopes whilst holding a number of key operational and staff appointments at various establishments in the Sri Lanka Army, prior to taking over the command of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force, Chief of Staff of the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff, Colonel Commandant of Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps, Chief Signal Officer, Centre Commandant of Sri Lanka Army Signal Corps, Brigade Commander 222 Brigade Trincomalee, 217 Brigade Vavuniya and 513 Brigade Jaffna, Assistant Military Secretary and Colonel General Staff.
He was also the Military Spokesman during the height of fight against LTTE terrorism and served as Director Media. With his in-depth understanding of Media manipulations of local and foreign terrorist networks and affable manner in dealing with all media personnel, he was able to effectively play a multi-faceted role during his tenure as the Military Spokesman.
He served as the Defence Advisor (Minister Counselor) at the Sri Lanka High Commission in the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2009. The profound knowledge he had acquired attending the Senior Executives (Communicators) Seminar in United Nations Pacific Command in Hawai, United States of America, various other training programmes and workshops in United Kingdom, China, Malta, India, Pakistan Philippine and Malaysia etc .has been effectively utilized in the development of the Organization at large.
In recognition of his dedication, unblemished service and loyalty to the Organization, he was awarded Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP), Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP), Vadamarachchi Operation Medal and several other service medals.
In addition to the prestigious appointment of Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force, Major General Prasad Samarasinghe serves Sri Lanka Army’s Chief Project Coordinator of Lotus Tower Project and Director General of the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) under the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.
Maj Gen Prasad Samarasinghe is married to Dammika Sepali and blessed with two sons.
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