Major General D G S Senarath Yapa RWP, RSP, ndu was a

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; ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. He is the incumbent Commandant of the

National Defence College, Sri Lanka The National Defence College, located in Colombo, is the defence service training institute and highest seat of strategic learning for officers of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, Sri Lanka Police and the Public Services. This is a very prestigiou ...

and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army. Before that he was the 49th Commandant of the

Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Army. The SLAVF is separate from the Regular Force (known as the ''regular army'') which consists of personal who are professional soldier ...

. Prior to join SLVF, he served as the Commander of Security Forces (West) and (Jaffna).

Early life and education

Yapa educated at

Piliyandala Central College Piliyandala Central College (; ) is a selective entry Mixed-sex education, mixed-gender school located in Piliyandala, Sri Lanka. It is the first State school, government-run mixed-gender secondary school in the country. College students are kn ...

Colombo District Colombo District ( ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a D ...

. After that he joined the Sri Lanka Army as an Officer Cadet on 16 March 1987 under the Intake 27. As an officer, he completed his Master of Science in management (Defence) from the

Kotalawala Defence University General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) ( Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ''General Sir John Kotelawala'' ''Ar ...

, Sri Lanka and then again gained Master of Science in Strategic Military Studies from National Defence University of Beijing in China.

Military career

Yapa served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 57 and 14 Infantry Divisions. He also served as the Colonel of t he Regiment of Sri Lanka Army Special Forces. In early years, he was the brigade Commander of Special Forces Brigade and Brigadier General Staff of the Security Forces Headquarters. He was promoted to Major General on 2 June 2020. On 14th December 2022 he assumed the post of Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS), 3rd most senior appointment of the Sri Lanka Army.

Personal life

General Yapa happily married to Mrs. Nayani Samanthi and the couple is blessed with two sons.

References

{{Reflist Living people 1968 births Sri Lankan major generals Sinhalese military personnel