Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army
	Incumbent; Major General S.P.A.I.M.B Samarakoon;
	Sri Lanka Army
Type	Very senior army post
Status	Two star general
Abbreviation	DCOS
Reports to	Commander of the Army
Residence	Colombo
Seat	Army HQ
Nominator	President of Sri Lanka
Appointer	President of Sri Lanka
Term length	Not fixed
Formation	1994

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army (DoSA) has been the title of the third in command of the Sri Lanka Army created in 1994. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of Major General and is the third senior position in the army. Deputy of Staff is charged with assisting the Chief of Staff of the Army in both operational and administrative aspects, functioning as the Acting Army Commander in his absences or incantation.

List of Deputy Chiefs of Staff

No	Deputy Chief of Staff	Took office	Left office	Unit of commission	Notes
	Major General W. R. Wijerathne		1995	Gemunu Watch
	Major General A. M. U. Seneviratne	1995	30 April 1996	Ceylon Light Infantry
	Major General Gemunu Kulatunge	1996		Ceylon Sinha Regiment
	Major General Srilal Weerasooriya	October 1996	22 February 1998	Ceylon Artillery	Later Major General Srilal Weerasooriya was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later as 15th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
	Major General L. P. Balagalle			Ceylon Artillery	Later Major General Lionel Balagalle was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later as 16th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On 10 October 2003, he was appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) as serving army commander.
	Major General Jaliya Nammuni		6 September 1998
	Major General Asoka Jayawardena	6 September 1998
	Major General Janaka Perera	1999 April	14 June 2000
11	Major General Neil Dias		1 February 2001		Later Major General Neil Dias appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Aarmy.
12	Major General Lohan Gunawardena	1 February 2001	13 April 2002		Later Major General Lohan Gunawardena appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Aarmy.
13	Major General A.E.D. Wijendra	13 April 2002	31 August 2003
14	Major General Shantha Kottegoda	13 August 2003	23 November 2003	Ceylon Light Infantry	Later Major General Shantha Kottegoda was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army and later as 17th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. On his retirement he was promoted to General.
15	Major General Chula Seneviratne	23 November 2003	30 June 2004	Ceylon Signals Corps	Later Major General Chula Seneviratne was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
16	Major General Sarath Fonseka	1 July 2004	9 December 2004	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment	Later Major General Sarath Fonseka was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army and later as 18th Commander of the Army and promoted to Lieutenant General. At the end of the war he was promoted to General, becoming the first army commander to hold a full General rank. On 15 July 2009 he was the first person appointed CDS under the newly approved Chief of Defence Staff Act. On On 22 March 2015, he was promoted to Field Marshal.
17	Major General M.D.S. Chandrapala	9 December 2004	6 December 2005	Sri Lanka Engineers
18	Major General Parami Kulatunga	6 December 2005	24 June 2006 †	Gemunu Watch	Major General Kulatunga was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant general effective from 28 June 2006.
19	Major General D.V.S.Y. Kulatunga	24 July 2006	3 February 2007	Sri Lanka Armoured Corps
20	Major General N Wijesinghe	3 February 2007	5 February 2008	Sri Lanka Artillery
21	Major General Upul Perera	7 May 2009	29 January 2010	Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
22	Major General A.L.R. Wijetunga	22 November 2010	11 July 2012	Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
23	Major General Piyal Abeysekera	12 July 2012	8 May 2014	Sri Lanka Signals Corps
24	Major General Mahinda Ambanpola	2 June 2014	15 February 2016	Engineer Services Regiment
25	Major General K.A.S. Perera	16 February 2016	30 September 2016
26	Major General Channa Gunathilaka	1 November 2016	15 December 2016	Sri Lanka Engineers	Later Major General Channa Gunathilaka was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
27	Major General R.V. Udawatte	15 December 2016	2017	Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps
28	Major General Dampath Fernando	4 August 2017	26 March 2018	Gemunu Watch	Later Major General Dampath Fernando was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
29	Major General Ajith Kariyakarawana	18 April 2018	21 April 2019	Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment
30	Major General Kumudu Perera	July 2019	29 October 2019	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment
	Major General Rasika Fernando	2 June 2020	30 September 2020	Gajaba Regiment
	Major General Duminda Sirinaga	1 October 2020	6 January 2021	Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
	Major General Wasantha Madola	14 January 2021	7 September 2021	Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police
	Major General Sampath Kotuwegoda	8 September 2021	21 December 2021	Sri Lanka Artillery
	Major General Jagath Kodithuwakku		7 June 2022	Sri Lanka Light Infantry	Later Major General Jagath Kodithuwakku was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
	Major General Channa Weerasuriya	16 June 2022	29 November 2022	Sri Lanka Light Infantry	Later Major General Channa Weerasuriya was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka army.
	Major General Sujeewa Senarath Yapa	14 December 2022	8 June 2023	Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment
	Major General Sanjaya Wanasinghe	8 June 2023	14 July 2023	Sri Lanka Artillery	Later Major General Sanjaya Wanasinghe was appointed as Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army.
	Major General C.D Ranasinghe	18 July 2023	27 October 2023	Gajaba Regiment
	Major General G.R.R.P Jayawardena	21 November	December 2023	Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment
43	Major General S.P.A.I.M.B Samarakoon	15 December		Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

References

External links

Sri Lanka Army

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army
Incumbent Major General S.P.A.I.M.B Samarakoon
Sri Lanka Army
Type	Very senior army post
Status	Two star general
Abbreviation	DCOS
Reports to	Commander of the Army
Residence	Colombo
Seat	Army HQ
Nominator	President of Sri Lanka
Appointer	President of Sri Lanka
Term length	Not fixed
Formation	1994