Lieutenant Colonel Prasanna Wickramasuriya, WWV, RWP, RSP is a highly decorated (retired)

Sri Lanka 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; ...

officer who served as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. As a two-time recipient of the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya (WWV), the highest wartime military decoration awarded non-posthumously by

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, ...

, Wickramasuriya is one of the most highly decorated Sri Lankan military officers. During Wickramasuriya's tenure as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd., he oversaw the construction and development of

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) (; ) is an international airport serving southeast Sri Lanka. It is located in the town of Mattala, from Hambantota. It is the first greenfield airport and the third international airport in the c ...

, Sri Lanka’s second

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

Family and education

Wickramasuriya was born in Matara to a family descending from local headmen. He is the younger son of Pema and Kamala Wickramasuriya née Rajapaksa, daughter of D. M. Rajapaksa, and he is a first cousin of

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, who served as President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015. Jaliya Wickramasuriya is his elder brother, and he was the brother-in-law of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

A. F. Lafir. He was educated at

Nalanda College, Colombo Nalanda College () is a Buddhist school in Sri Lanka that provides primary and secondary education for boys.cadet officer, he underwent officer training at the

Sri Lanka Military Academy The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the oldest military academy in Sri Lanka, and trains commissioned officers for the Sri Lanka Army. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatal ...

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 ...

. Completing his training in 1983, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the

Rajarata Rifles The Rajarata Rifles was a former rifle regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. It was one of only three geographically based regiments in the Sri Lanka army. The cap badge of the Raja Rata Rifles shows the figure of a ''Bherunda Pakshiya'' (Double-headed ...

. Following the disbanding of the Rajarata Rifles, he was transferred to the newly formed

Gajaba Regiment The Gajaba Regiment (GR) is an elite infantry regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Formed on 14 October 1983 at the Saliyapura Camp in Anuradhapura, it is named after the famous Sinhalese King Gajabahu the First. It consists of 14 regular battali ...

. There he served as special operations platoon commander, platoon commander in operations in Jaffna with the onset of the Tamil Militancy and took part in the Vadamarachchi Operation, when he was shot in the chest and evacuated by air to the Military Hospital in Pallali. In 1994, while serving as the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the Kotelawala Defence Academy, he was able to detect by chance a

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 ...

suicide bomber A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

in Colombo. In 1997, as a

battalion commander A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several companies, each typically commanded by a major or a captain. The typical battal ...

of the 1st Gajaba Regiment, he took part in the Operation Jayasikurui and was present at the Thandikulam–Omanthai offensive. He retired from the army in 1998 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and during his career, he had been awarded

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 ...

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 ...

and the

Desha Putra Sammanaya The Desha Putra Sammanaya ( Sinhala: දේශ පුත්‍ර සම්මානය ''dēśa putra sammānaya''; Son of the Nation Award) is a military decoration awarded as a wound medal to servicepersons of the Military of Sri Lanka, equ ...

Later work

Following his retirement from the army, Wickramasuirya worked with his brother in exporting tea. He was appointed as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services Limited by President

in 2010.Col. Wickramasuriya reappointed
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wickramasuriya, Prasanna Sri Lankan Buddhists Gajaba Regiment officers Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Living people Rajapaksa family Sinhalese military personnel Year of birth missing (living people)