Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi, WWV, RWP,

RSP RSP may refer to: Music * RSP (band), a Japanese hip-hop and R&B group * Rubber Soul Project, a Serbian rock music band Business * Recognised Safety Professional, a designation awarded by the International Institute of Risk & Safety Managemen ...

, VSV, USP is a retired

Sri Lankan Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; t ...

officer who served as the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – East,

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 ...

, 21 Division and

Brigade Commander A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

, Special Forces Brigade. Having founded the Special Forces Regiment of the Sri Lankan Army, he is known as the "Father of the Special Forces Regiment". Hettiarachchi joined the Sri Lanka Army as a cadet officer in 1973 and received his basic training at the Army Training Center in

Diyatalawa Diyatalawa (), (), meaning ) is a former garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is situated at an altitude of and has become a popular destination for local holiday makers. It is home ...

. On completing his training he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the

Sri Lanka Armoured Corps The Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC) provides the armour capability of the Sri Lanka Army, with vehicles such as the T-55#Modernization, T-55AM2 main battle tank; the BMP development, BMP infantry fighting vehicle; and the BTR-80 and WZ551 armoured ...

(SLAC). He served as a Troop Commander and a Squadron Commander in the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment, SLAC. In 1985, the army formed a Combat Tracker Team under the command of Major Hettiarachchi consisting of two officers and 38 men to conduct

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

and

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

against

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam ...

units operating in the thick jungles in the northern part of the island in small groups. This team was renamed the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) (Special Force). This was the inception of the Special Forces Regiment which was officially formed on 10 December 1988 with Major Hettiarachchi as its

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

. With the formation of the Special Forces Brigade in 1996, Brigadier Hettiarachchi served as its second

brigade commander A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

in 1998. In March 2000, he was appointed

of the 21 Division and was promoted to the rank of Major General on 1 February 2001. He then served as Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps from 2001 to 2003. Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – East from 2004 to 2005. He retired from the army in 2006. A graduate of the

Army War College, Mhow The Army War College, Mhow (A.W.C.) is a defence service training and research institution of the Indian Army located in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. It is a premier training institute of warfare and carries out research in tactics, logistics, contem ...

and the

National Defence College, India The National Defence College, located in New Delhi, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Defence Service and the Civil Services. This is a very prestigious course attended only by ...

; he has been awarded the

Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya The Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya (WWV, Order of Conspicuous Gallantry) ( Sinhala: වීර වික්‍රම විභූෂණය ''vīra vickrama vibhūṣaṇaya'') is the third-highest military decoration awarded by the Military of Sri ...

, the

Rana Wickrama Padakkama The Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP, Combat Gallantry Medal) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: රණ වික්‍රම පදක්කම) is awarded to Sri Lankan military service personnel serving in both the regular- and volunteer forces as a rew ...

, the

Rana Sura Padakkama Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP, Combat Excellence Medal) ( Sinhala: රණ ශූර පදක්කම ''rana śūra padakkama'') is awarded to servicepersons of all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka for individual ...

, the

Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV, Distinguished Service Order) ( Sinhala: විශිෂ්ට සේවා විභූෂණය ''viṣiṣta sēvā vibhūṣaṇaya'') is awarded to senior officers of the Military of Sri Lanka in recognit ...

and the

Uttama Seva Padakkama The Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP, Meritorious Service Medal) ( Sinhala: උත්තම සේවා පදක්කම ''uṭṭama sēvā padakkama'') is presented to all ranks of the regular forces of the Sri Lankan military for: Award proc ...

. In July 2005, 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 Major General Hettiarachchi as the Director General of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) tasked with establishing the Disaster Management Centre following the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...

, in which capacity he served till May 2014. In December 2014, he was awarded the National Leadership Award for Disaster Resilience by the Ministry of Disaster Management along with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Bangkok. He is also a Fellow of the Academic Commons of the Disaster Resilience leadership Academy of the

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

. From 2015 to 2017, he served as the Chairmen of the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka and thereafter Director Security of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hettiarachchi, Gamini Sri Lankan major generals Sri Lanka Armoured Corps officers Special Forces Regiment officers Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Army War College, Mhow alumni National Defence College, India alumni