Army Commander appointed as Chief of Defence Staff

President Maithripala Sirisena, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces promoted the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Crisanthe De Silva  to the rank of General to be effective from yesterday and appointed him as the Chief of Defence Staff, Army said.

He has been serving as the 21st Commander of the Sri Lanka Army to-date since 22 February 2015.Enlisted to the Army on 6th February 1980 and commissioned afterwards on 18th July 1981 as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Sri Lanka Engineers, he counts an exemplary service career spanning over 37 years in the Army.

He was subsequently promoted to the ranks of Captain (1985), Major (1989), Lieutenant Colonel (1994), Colonel (1997), Brigadier (2003) and Major General on 30 November 2009. Upon his assumption of the Army Commander’s Office on 22 February 2015, he was elevated to the rank of Lieutenant General.

He took office as the Chief of Staff on 1 August 2013 before undertaking an overseas assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow on 16 May 2014.

General Crisanthe De Silva, who has wide-ranging experience in various command, staff and instructional appointments, commanded the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force as its Commandant before he was appointed the Chief of Staff. He was also the Commander of the Security Force Headquarters, Kilinochchi and has served as Commander of the Forward Maintenance Area-East and Kilinochchi. Further, he commanded the Engineer Brigade, 512 and 562 Infantry Brigades as well.