SLMA Officer Cadets Submit Their Final Presentation Hours before PoP Ceremony

The formal final presentation of the Sri Lanka Military Academy (SLMA) Officer Cadets which occurs hours before they pass out took place on Saturday (18) evening at Diyatalawa SLMA’s 'Sino-Lanka Friendship' auditorium, headed by the Chief Guest, HE the President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the presence of HE the President's Principal Advisor, Mr Lalith Weeratunge, General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd), Secretary Defence and General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army. The presentation, a compulsory module in their training was themed on 'Rise of Taliban in Afghanistan and its Spillover Effects to South Asian Region's Extremism and Terrorism', a compendium of research findings.

In order to emerge as full-fledged Officers and future decision-makers in the organization, it is customary for them as one more group of professionally-qualified officers to present this well-researched thesis before a panel of scholars and academia for necessary evaluation, followed by an interactive question-answer session where attending scholars intervene and guide those budding officers further.

A few seconds later, the release of the SLMA journal occurred along with the SLMA Commandant, Brigadier Nalinda Niyangoda. The first copy of the journal was presented to the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army. Bringing the brief presentation ceremony to end, General Shavendra Silva was invited to add comments and observations to the contents of the presentation.

Meanwhile, the Army Training Command at Diyatalawa released new seven publications (Sri Lanka Army Land Operations Doctrine, Sri Lanka Army Training Doctrine, Sri Lanka Army Core Values, Generic Advisory Supporting Doctrine, Sri Lanka Army Core Values Sinhala Edition, The Preceptor Officer Instructors’ Guide, Metamorphosis Officer Cadets’ Guide) were also handed over to HE the President by General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army. Those publications were introduced to the occasion by Major General Nishantha Manage, Commander, Army Training Command and Director General General Staff.

The final Commissioning Dinner of Sunday’s (19) Passing out Parade with regalia is expected to kick off at the Officer Cadets’ Mess with the Commander of the Army as the Chief Guest, taking the centre-stage at the head table.

Mrs Ioma Rajapaksa, First Lady, Mrs Chithrani Gunaratne, Chairperson, Ministry of Defence Seva Vanitha Unit (MoD-SVU), together with Mrs Sujeewa Nelson, President, Army Seva Vanitha Unit were also among the invitees present at the presentation ceremony.

Senior tri-service Officers, distinguished invitees, well-wishers of Cadet Officers were associated with the formal presentation ceremony.