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 ...

Piyal De Silva, WWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a former senior Sri Lankan naval officer. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 2019 to 2020.Rear Admiral Piyal de Silva appointed 23rd Navy Commander
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Education

Educated at Dharmasoka College, in

Ambalangoda Ambalangoda is a coastal town located in Galle District, Southern Province of Sri Lanka, famous for its ancient demon masks and devil dancers. Ambalangoda town is distinct from Ambalangoda Urban Council. The borders of Ambalangoda town are dif ...

he joined the navy in 1984.

Naval career

De Silva joined the Sri Lanka Navy as an

Officer Cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

in the 12th intake in 1984 undergoing 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 ...

. On completion of his basic training at the Naval and Maritime Academy, he was commissioned as a Sub Lieutenant in February 1986. During his early career he specialized as an explosive ordnance disposal diver going on to command the elite Special Boat Squadron and the Diving Unit of the Navy. An officer of the executive branch he held sea commands as Captain of several warships. He later gained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in Human Resource Management, a Master of Defence and Strategic Studies and graduated from the

PLA National Defence University The National Defense University is a national public collegiate military university headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, China, with constituent and affiliated military academies nationwide. Established in 1985 by a military order of Deng X ...

. He was promoted to the rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in 2012 and held appointments such as Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet, Commander Eastern, Southern, North-western and Northern Naval areas.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...

appointed De Silva the

Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy Chief of Staff of the Navy has been the title of the second in command of the Sri Lanka Navy. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of Rear Admiral and is the second most senior position in the navy. Chief of Staff is charged with ...

with effect from 2 July 2018. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Director General Operations. On 31 December 2018, he was appointed by President Sirisena as Commander of the Navy and promoted to the rank of

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

effective from 1 January 2019. He retired from the navy on 14 July 2020 and was promoted to the rank of

. His decorations include

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 ...

awarded two times,

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 ...

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 ...

for gallantry;

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

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 ...

for meritorious service.

Honors

His decorations include

twise (with a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

for gallantry;

and

for meritorious service. Other medals he has gained over the years include, the

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal __NOTOC__ The Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') i ...

(with clasp), the

Sri Lanka Navy 50th Anniversary Medal The Sri Lanka Navy 50th Anniversary Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදා 50වන සංවත්සර පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā nāvika hamudā panasvana sangwathsara padakkama'') was presented ...

, the 50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal, the

Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal The Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal was a Sri Lankan campaign medal for action during Eelam War IV, presented to: * The Minister of Defence, the Deputy Minister of Defence, the Defence Secretary, Service Commanders and the Inspector Gener ...

(with clasp), the

Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal The Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal was a Sri Lankan campaign medal for action during Eelam War IV, presented to: * The Minister of Defence, the Deputy Minister of Defence, the Defence Secretary, Service Commanders and the Inspector Gene ...

(with clasp), the

North and East Operations Medal The North and East Operations Medal ( Sinhala: උතුරු නැගෙනහිර සංග්‍රාමික පදක්කම ''uthuru nægenahira sangrāmika padakkama'') was a decoration presented to servicepersons of the Military o ...

, the

Purna Bhumi Padakkama The Purna Bhumi Padakkama ( Sinhala: පූර්ණ භූමි පදක්කම ''pūrna bhūmi padakkama'') was a service medal awarded by the Military of Sri Lanka (regular and volunteer) and Sri Lanka Police to all ranks of its forces ...

, and the

Riviresa Campaign Services Medal The Riviresa Campaign Services Medal ( Sinhala: රිවිරැස මෙහෙයුම් පදක්කම ''riviræsa meheyum padakkama'') was a campaign medal presented to all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of ...

Sri Lanka Navy 50th Anniversary Medal ribbon bar

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ribbon bar

50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal

Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal ribbon bar

Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal ribbon bar

North and East Operations Medal ribbon bar

Riviresa Campaign Services Medal ribbon bar

His badges include: the Surface Warfare Badge, Diving Badge, and the Commendation Badge.

Sporting career

De Silva was adjudged the Best Sportsman of the Sri Lanka Navy on two occasions and represented the Sri Lankan national basketball team at South Asian and Asian Basketball Tournaments.

Family

De Silva is married to Arundathi Jayaneththi and they have two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Silva, Piyal Commanders of the Navy (Sri Lanka) Living people Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan admirals Year of birth missing (living people) Sri Lankan underwater divers Special Boat Squadron (Sri Lanka) officers