Shavendra Silva

He joined the Sri Lanka Army on 5 March 1984 through its 19th Officer Cadet Intake (long course) at Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa. On completion of his training, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Gajaba Regiment on 16 November 1985 as one of the first officers to commission directly into the newly formed infantry regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Vijaya Wimalaratne. Attached to the 1st Battalion Gajaba Regiment, he was made platoon commander in the Special Service Group that later developed into the Rapid Deployment Force a precursor to the Special Forces Regiment. He later transferred to the Commando Regiment following commando training. In 1987, he took part in the Operation Liberation in Vadamarachi as the adjutant of the 1 Battalion under the command of Major Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He was wounded in the operation and later served as the head of the Presidential Security Army Unit at the President's House, Colombo. He was thereafter an officer instructor at the Sri Lanka Military Academy and served as the course officer of regular intake 37, which included the first batch of foreign officer cadets in 1991.[7]

In 1995, he became the youngest officer to command an infantry battalion, during the Operation Riviresa. Between 1995 and 1998, he served as commanding officer of the 1st, the 5th and the 8th battalions of the Gajaba Regiment. During 2002–2004 peace talks he took part in negotiations to open the A-9 Main Supply Route (MSR). In 2005, he was transferred to the Sri Lanka Military Academy as the commanding officer of the officer cadet wing. He had served as a staff officer in the Military Secretary's Branch at Army Headquarters and as a general staff officer in the Directorate of Plans, Directorate of Training and in the Security Force Headquarters, Jaffna.[7]

With the resumption of hostilities he became the Brigade Commander of the Air Mobile Brigade, in August 2006 he was instrumental in the capture of the forward defense lines in Muhamalai. Thereafter, he took command of the 58 Division, playing a key role in the military capturing several former LTTE strongholds including the Mannar Rice Bowl, Vedithalathivu, Nachchikuda, Mulangavil, Devils Point, Pooneryn, Kilinochchi, Paranthan, Elephant Pass, Dharmapuram, Vishvamadu, Suvandipuram, Thevipuram Puthukudirippu, Puthumathalan, Wellamullu vaikkal and the last stretch of LTTE held Karayamulli vaikkal in the mangroves of Nanthikandal lagoon in the Mullaithivu district. After the end of the war he was appointed as Director of Operations of the Sri Lanka Army and promoted to the rank of Major General, the youngest officer to reach that rank. He then served as the General Officer Commanding 53 Division which served as the country's Reserve Strike Force.[7]

In 2010, he took up position as Sri Lanka Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Headquarters with the rank of Ambassador in 2010, serving till 2015. At the time he was the only serving army officer to hold such a diplomatic post. He was also the alternative representative of Sri Lanka to the Special Committee on Decolonization from 2010 to 2015 and served as an advisor of the Sri Lankan delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee. He led initiatives to increase Sri Lankan contribution to United Nations Peacekeeping operations, including the deployment of air units of the Sri Lanka Air Force and a military hospital for the United Nations Missions in Central African Republic and South Sudan.[8][7]

Silva is a graduate of the National Defence College, attended a course on National and International Security at the Harvard University and had undergone psychological operations training in the US. He had served as a visiting lecturer at the Marine Corps War College in Quantico.[7]

On his return from the UN he was appointed Adjutant General (AG) of Sri Lanka Army in the General Staff at Army Headquarters. In January 2019, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the army.[9][7]

On 21 August 2019, he was appointed as Commander of Sri Lanka Army and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General by President Maithripala Sirisena, succeeding General Mahesh Senanayake. He became the first officer of the Gajaba Regiment to take command of the army.[7][10] He is the Regimental Colonel of the Gajaba Regiment and the Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment and was the Regimental Colonel of the Commando Regiment.[11]

In January 2020, General Silva was appointed as Acting Chief of Defence Staff, while concurrently serving as Army Commander. He succeeds Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne[12]

On February 14, 2020, The United States State Department banned Silva from entering the United States along with his family for accusations of human right abuses such as extrajudicial killings in 2009.[13][14] Sri Lanka's Government strongly opposed the measure.[15]