| Commander of the Sri Lanka Army | |
|---|---|
| ශ්රී ලංකාවේ යුද්ධ හමුදාපති | |
since 1 January 2025 | |
 Sri Lanka Army | |
| Member of | National Security Council |
| Reports to | Chief of Defence Staff |
| Residence | General's House, Colombo |
| Seat | Army Headquarters |
| Appointer | President of Sri Lanka |
| Term length | Not fixed |
| Precursor | Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force |
| Formation | 20 October 1949; 76 years ago (1949-10-20) as Commander of the Ceylon Army |
| First holder | BrigadierRoderick Sinclair (as Commander, Ceylon Army) |
| Deputy | Chief of Staff of the Army |
| Website | Official website |
Thecommander of the Army (Sinhala:ශ්රී ලංකාවේ යුද්ධ හමුදාපති,romanized: śrī laṁkāvē yuddha hamudāpati) is the title of the professional head of theSri Lanka Army. The current commander of the Army is Lieutenant GeneralLasantha Rodrigo.[1]
The post's precursor was known asCommander of the Ceylon Defence Force.
Serving army commanders have by convention been of the rank ofLieutenant General, promoted to the rank ofGeneral on the day of their retirement or after getting the appointment ofChief of Defence Staff which post is now obsolete.Sepala Attygalle was the first army commander who was promoted tofull general on the day of his retirement in 1977.Tissa Weeratunga was the second commander to be promoted to the rank of full general on the day of his retirement in 1985 (after serving as the general officer commanding of the joint operations command).
Sarath Fonseka,Jagath Jayasuriya andShavendra Silva were elevated to the rank ofgeneral while serving as commander.Denis Perera andNalin Seneviratne were promoted to full general in 2007 after 26 years and 19 years of retirement respectively.[2]
The official residence of the commander isGeneral's House, Colombo.
FromHamilton Wanasinghe (appointed in 1988) customarily all army commanders are lieutenant generals and were later promoted to full general on the day of their retirement or after becoming the g.o.c. of the joint operations command which was later known as chief of defence staff.
| No. | Picture | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Unit of commission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Sinclair, RoderickBrigadier The Earl of CaithnessCBE, DSO (1906–1965) | 20 October 1949 | 17 May 1952 | 2 years, 210 days | Gordon Highlanders |
| 2 |  | Reid, FrancisBrigadier SirFrancis ReidCBE (1900–1970) | 18 May 1952 | 8 February 1955 | 2 years, 266 days | Royal Artillery |
| 3 |  | Muttukumaru, AntonMajor General Anton MuttukumaruOBE, ED (1908–2001) | 9 February 1955 | 31 December 1959 | 4 years, 326 days | Ceylon Light Infantry |
| 4 | | Wijeyekoon, H.Major General H. W. G. WijeyekoonOBE, ED (1911–1969) | 1 January 1960 | 31 December 1963 | 3 years, 364 days | Ceylon Light Infantry |
| 5 | | Udugama, RichardMajor General DeshamanyaRichard UdugamaMBE (1911–1995) | 1 January 1964 | 10 November 1966 | 2 years, 313 days | Ceylon Light Infantry |
| 6 |  | Heyn, BertramMajor General DeshabanduBertram Heyn (1912–1998) | 11 November 1966 | 30 September 1967 | 323 days | Ceylon Light Infantry |
| 7 | | Attygalle, SepalaGeneral DeshamanyaSepala AttygalleLVO (1922–2001) | 1 October 1967 | 13 October 1977 | 10 years, 12 days | Sri Lanka Armoured Corps |
| 8 | | Perera, DenisGeneral DeshamanyaDenis PereraVSV (1930–2013) | 14 October 1977 | 13 October 1981 | 3 years, 364 days | Sri Lanka Engineers |
| 9 | | Weeratunga, TissaGeneral Tissa WeeratungaVSV (1930–2003) | 14 October 1981 | 11 February 1985 | 3 years, 120 days | Gemunu Watch |
| 10 | | Seneviratne, NalinGeneral Nalin SeneviratneVSV (1931–2009) | 12 February 1985 | 15 August 1988 | 3 years, 185 days | Sri Lanka Engineers |
| 11 | | Wanasinghe, HamiltonGeneral Hamilton WanasingheVSV (1935–2025) | 16 August 1988 | 15 November 1991 | 3 years, 91 days | Sri Lanka Artillery |
| 12 | | Waidyaratne, CecilGeneral Cecil WaidyaratneVSV (1938–2001) | 16 November 1991 | 31 December 1993 | 2 years, 45 days | Sri Lanka Armoured Corps |
| 13 | | Silva, G.General G. H. De SilvaRWP, VSV, USP (born 1940) | 1 January 1994 | 30 April 1996 | 2 years, 120 days | Gemunu Watch |
| 14 | | Daluwatte, RohanGeneral Rohan DaluwatteRWP, RSP, VSV, USP (1941–2018) | 1 May 1996 | 15 December 1998 | 2 years, 228 days | Sri Lanka Armoured Corps |
| 15 | | Weerasooriya, C.General Srilal WeerasooriyaRWP, RSP, VSV, USP (born 1943) | 16 December 1998 | 24 August 2000 | 1 year, 252 days | Sri Lanka Artillery |
| 16 | | Balagalle, LionelGeneral Lionel BalagalleRWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP (1947–2023) | 25 August 2000 | 30 June 2004 | 3 years, 310 days | Sri Lanka Artillery |
| 17 | | Kottegoda, ShanthaGeneral Shantha KottegodaWWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP (born 1949) | 1 July 2004 | 5 December 2005 | 1 year, 157 days | Sri Lanka Light Infantry |
| 18 |  | Fonseka, SarathField Marshal Sarath FonsekaRWP, RSP, VSV, USP (born 1950) | 6 December 2005 | 15 July 2009 | 3 years, 221 days | Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment |
| 19 |  | Jayasuriya, JagathGeneral Jagath JayasuriyaVSV, USP (born 1959) | 15 July 2009 | 1 August 2013 | 4 years, 17 days | Sri Lanka Armoured Corps |
| 20 | | Ratnayake, DayaGeneral Daya RatnayakeWWV, RWP, RSP, USP (born 1958) | 1 August 2013 | 21 February 2015 | 1 year, 204 days | Sri Lanka Light Infantry |
| 21 | _(cropped).jpg) | Silva, CrishanthaGeneral Crishantha de SilvaRWP, USP | 22 February 2015 | 4 July 2017 | 2 years, 132 days | Sri Lanka Engineers |
| 22 | | Senanayake, MaheshGeneral Mahesh SenanayakeRWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 4 July 2017 | 19 August 2019 | 2 years, 46 days | Sri Lanka Engineers |
| 23 | | Silva, ShavendraGeneral Shavendra SilvaWWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (born 1964) | 19 August 2019 | 31 May 2022 | 2 years, 285 days | Gajaba Regiment |
| 24 |  | Liyanage, VikumGeneral Vikum LiyanageRWP, RSP, USP (born 1967) | 1 July 2022 | 31 December 2024 | 2 years, 215 days | Gajaba Regiment |
| 25 | | Rodrigo, LasanthaLieutenant General Lasantha RodrigoRSP | 1 January 2025 | Incumbent | 325 days | Sri Lanka Artillery |
