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 ...

(retired) Jayantha Perera RWP, VSV, USP, ndu, psc was the 19th Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy.

Education and career

Educated at

Thurstan College Thurstan College () is a national school for boys in Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, providing primary and secondary education. It is located in the Cinnamon Gardens neighbourhood of Colombo 7 near the University of Colombo and the Roya ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Perera enlisted in the

Sri Lanka Navy The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) (; ) is the navy, naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. It is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its ...

on 23 August 1978. Completing basic training at the

Naval and Maritime Academy Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), Trincomalee, is the naval academy of the Sri Lanka Navy, and is located within SLN Dockyard, Trincomalee. It received university status in 2001 under the leadership of Commodore SR Samaratunga. History The Sri ...

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

in 1979, he went on to specialize in gunnery at INS Dronacharya in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1996, he completed an MSc in Defense Studies at the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

, and would earn another MSc in Defense & Strategic Studies at the National Defence University in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. Perera commanded the SLN flagship SLNS Sayura in the 2000-2003 period and was the

Flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

commanding the naval fleet from 2006 to 2007 based at

, simultaneously serving as Deputy Area Commander for the Eastern Command. Other staff appointments he has held at various times include: *Director Naval Operations and Naval Special Forces *Director Naval Weapons *Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence *Deputy Director of Naval Training *Media Spokesman for the SLN *Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Staff He has held, in order, the SLN's Southern and Western Commands in the 2007-2009 period, and following a brief three-month stint as the navy's Director General- Services, was appointed Director General- Operations- a position he occupied until July 2013, when he was appointed Chief of Staff of the SLN. He was awarded 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 same year He was appointed Commander of the Navy on 1 July 2014, and was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

on his retirement from duty on 9 July 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Jayantha Commanders of the Navy (Sri Lanka) Sri Lankan admirals Sinhalese military personnel Naval and Maritime Academy graduates 1957 births Living people