Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Ravindra "Ravi" Vimal Jayewardene (22 April 1936 – 2 April 2017) was a Sri Lankan

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and sports shooter. He was the son of

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

J. R. Jayewardene and served as the National Security Adviser in his father's administration.

Early life

The only child of J. R. Jayewardene and Elina Jayewardene, Ravi was educated at S. Thomas' Preparatory School and at Royal College Colombo.

Military service

Avoiding a political career, he joined George Steuart Group after completing school and thereafter joined the

volunteer force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

of the

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

and following training at the Volunteer Force Training Centre he was commissioned as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the 2nd (V) Ceylon Light Infantry in 1956. He was mobilized for internal security duties and commanded light infantry troops in

Panadura Panadura ( si, පානදුර, translit=Pānadura; ta, பாணந்துறை, translit=Pāṇantuṟai) is a city in Kalutara District, Western Province in Sri Lanka. It is located approximately south of Colombo and is surrounded on ...

during the

1958 Riots The 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom and riots in Ceylon, also known as the 58 riots, refer to the first island-wide ethnic riots and pogrom to target the minority Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon after it became an independent dominion from Britain in 1 ...

. Having been mobilized regularly, he transferred to a regular commission in 1959, but was sent on compulsory leave following the 1962 attempted coup. He competed in the 50 metre rifle, prone event at the 1964 Summer Olympics. In 1966 he left the army with the rank of

Air Ceylon

Having gained his pilot license from the Ratmalana Flying School, he joined

Air Ceylon Air Ceylon was the former flag carrier airline of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The airline discontinued flights to Europe in early 1978 and finally ceased all local services on 31 August 1979, when it was replaced by Air Lanka and then rebranded to ...

thereafter. In April 1971, during the JVP Insurrection he was arrested at the

Ratmalana Airport Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana ( si, කොළඹ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, රත්මලාන, translit=Koḷam̆ba Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa, Ratmalāna; ta, கொழும்பு ...

by the police on accusations of giving weapons and jungle warfare training to youth associated with the JVP, but was never charged. Following a heart attack, he left Air Ceylon. Leaving the country shortly thereafter he spent time as a Buddhist monk in Thailand for three years before migrating to Australia where he worked as a mechanic, even after his father was elected Prime Minister.

National Security Adviser

Following the 1983 riots, he returned to Sri Lanka in 1983 and was appointed National Security Adviser. With the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War, with concerns over the presidential security, he formed the elite

Special Task Force Special Task Force may refer to: * Special Task Force (SAPS), a South African Counter-Terrorist force * Special Task Force (Sri Lanka), Sri Lankan Police Counter-Terrorist force * Special Task Force (India) In India, a Special Task Force (STF) i ...

. He assisted

Lalith Athulathmudali Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...

, Minister of National Security in the formation of the Sri Lankan Home Guard to defend border villages that were consistently attacked by the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

. He stepped down from his post when his father's term in office ended.

Later life

Jaywardene died on 2 April 2017 after a brief illness, aged 80.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaywardene, Ravivimal 1936 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Colombo Sri Lankan presidential advisers Sri Lanka Light Infantry officers Sri Lankan aviators Sri Lankan male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Sri Lanka Shooters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Sri Lanka Shooters at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Jayewardene family