The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) was the most senior appointment in the

Sri Lankan Armed Forces The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lank ...

, and the highest-ranking military officer in service, outranking the heads of each service branch. The CDS had not operational command authority over service branches, but rather oversaw inter-service co-operation and developed and implemented the joint operations doctrine of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Coordination of inter-service joint operations were handled by the Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff, formally known as the ''Joint Operations Headquarters''. The CDS was the Chairman of a Committee made up of service commanders and is a member of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

. Its subordinate command was known as the

Overall Operational Command The Overall Operational Command (OOC) was established on 29 April 2019 following the Easter Sunday Bombings bringing under its command all Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Police units within the Western Province ...

History

The post could be traced back to post of

general officer commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC) of the ''Joint Operations Command'' when

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

T. I. Weerathunga was first appointed to it on November 2, 1985. The Joint Operations Command was created in 1985 due to a need to co-ordinate of joint operations among the tri-services and the police with the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The post itself was created in 1999 replacing the civilian post of chief of the ''Joint Operations Bureau'' which had existed briefly in 1999. Its powers expanded under the ''Chief of Defence Staff Act No. 35 of 2009''. The Chief of the Defence Staff was appointed to the highest rank in the branch of the Sri Lankan armed forces to which he belonged (equivalent to a British " four-star" rank) being a

, an

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

or an

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

. According to the new Bill, the

president of Sri Lanka The president of Sri Lanka ( ''Śrī Laṅkā Janādhipati''; ''Ilaṇkai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union governm ...

appointed to the post of Chief of Defence Staff any person serving as Commander of the Army, Navy or the Air Force, to function under the direction, supervision and control of the

permanent secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Responsibilities

* Assist in providing for the strategic direction of the armed forces * Development of doctrine for the

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

employment of the armed forces * Facilitation of preparation of strategic plans for the armed forces * Co-ordination of matters relating to

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

as between the armed forces; * To undertake assessments to determine the capabilities of the armed forces in comparison with those of their potential * Preparation of operational plans for the armed forces

Supporting and associated posts

The CDS was assisted by a

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

(two-star rank) and four director generals (operations and systems, training, naval and air operations, coordination) made up the Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff. In addition, the CDS had a personal staff consisting of the secretary to the CDS, two aides-de-camp, and principal staff officers.

General officer commanding, Joint Operations Command (1985–1993)

Chairman, Joint Operations Bureau (1999–2000)

Chief of the Defence Staff (2000–2024)

Ranks and honours are as at the completion of their tenure:

References

External links

official website of the office of the chief of the defence staff

{{Chief of military by country Military of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan commands

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Sri Lankan military appointments