LIEUTENANT General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander of the Army, continuing his second leg of the tour in the northern region on Tuesday (6) visited Welioya Area Headquarters, 59 Division Headquarters, 591 Brigade Headquarters, Task Force-2 Headquarters, 68 Division Headquarters and the Advanced Infantry Platoon Training School (AIPT) at Muthiyankattu where the visiting Army Chief took time off to interact separately with soldiers serving those areas.
Tuesday’s itinerary commenced with Lieutenant General Jayasuriya’s visit to the Welioya Area Headquarters where he was received by Major General Athula Jayawardena, Commander, Security Forces, Mullaittivu. A special Guard Turnout greeted the visiting Commander to the venue.
Afterwards, the Commander visited the 591 Brigade Headquarters in 59 Division and declared open the new office complex that has now been erected at the former Mullaittivu Army camp premises. The venue, established in 1971 as an Army camp of the 2 Sri Lanka Light Infantry was overrun and captured by Tiger terrorists in 1996. The area again fell into Army hands in 2009. On arrival at this place of military importance, Lieutenant General Jayasuriya was welcomed by Colonel A.S Ariyasinghe, Commander, 591 Brigade and accorded a Guard Turnout plus a Guard of Honour. He was afterwards shown around the premises recalling yesteryear memories.
A few hours later, the Commander made a trip down to the Task Force-2 Headquarters where he was greeted with another Guard Turnout in his honour. Lieutenant General Jayasuriya joined all ranks at lunch in the Advanced Infantry Platoon Training School (AIPT), later on when he visited it. The visiting Army Chief extending his New Year greetings talked to a cross section of the troops serving the 68 Division.
Lieutenant General Jayasuriya met soldiers under training at Muthiyankattu Advanced Infantry Training Platoon School and shared views with them. The school Commandant, Colonel Prasanna Ranawaka received the Commander on arrival at the premises and showed him around. (See story captioned ‘Plans Afoot to Increase’ on this page)
