|
Sri Lanka The Army
The Sri Lankan Army is the oldest and largest of the nation's
three armed services. It was established as the Royal Ceylon Army
in 1949, and was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in
1972. The commander of the army exercises direct operational
control over the force. In early 1988, the government announced a
major reorganization of the army, creating several high-level
posts to accommodate the new structure. Under this revised chain
of command, the commander of the army (upgraded from lieutenant
general to general) will be assisted by a deputy commander (a
lieutenant general) and a chief of staff (a major general). Apart
from the Colombo District, which will be under the direct
authority of Army Headquarters, the island will be divided into
two area commands and twenty-one sectors. Each area command is
scheduled to have 12,000 troops under the authority of a major
general, with a brigadier as chief of staff. When the
reorganization is completed, each sector will have a full
battalion of troops dedicated to its defense.
Like the Indian Army, the Sri Lankan Army has largely
retained the British-style regimental system that it inherited
upon independence. The individual regiments (such as the Sri
Lanka Light Infantry and the Sinha Regiment) operated
independently and recruited their own members. Officers tended to
remain in a single battalion throughout their careers. The
infantry battalion, the basic unit of organization in field
operations, included five companies of four platoons each.
Incomplete reports suggest that a typical platoon had three
squads (sections) of ten personnel each. In addition to the basic
infantry forces, a commando regiment was established in 1986.
Support for the infantry was provided by two reconnaissance
regiments (one regular, one reserve), two field artillery
regiments (one regular, one reserve), one antiaircraft regiment,
one field engineering regiment, one engineering plant regiment,
one signals battalion, a medical corps, and a variety of
logistics units.
In late 1987, the army had a total estimated strength of up
to 40,000 troops, about evenly divided between regular army
personnel and reservists on active duty. The approximately 20,000
regular army troops represented a significant increase over the
1983 strength of only 12,000. Aggressive recruitment campaigns
following the 1983 riots raised this number to 16,000 by early
1985.
After the 1971 uprising, the army expanded its range of
weapons from the original stock of World War II-era British Lee
Enfield rifles and 4.2-inch heavy mortars. New sources of
weaponry in the mid-to-late 1970s included the Soviet Union,
Yugoslavia, and China, countries with which the left-leaning
Bandaranaike government had the closest ties. China continued to
be an important source into the 1980s, and was joined by
Australia, Italy, South Africa, Israel,and the United States. New
equipment included 85mm field guns, light trucks, and armored
personnel carriers. Chinese copies of Soviet small arms were the
basic weapons used by the infantry. Of particular note were the
Type 56 semiautomatic rifle (based on the Soviet AK), the Type 69
rocket launcher (like the Soviet RPG-7), and the Type 56 light
machine gun, a copy of the Soviet 7.62mm RPD.
Despite the rapid acquisition of trucks and armored personnel
carriers, individual units of the army had no transportation
capability of their own, and most patrols were carried out on
foot. Helicopters were available only for special operations, and
most troop transport was by ordinary buses or minibuses. This
situation frequently left troops vulnerable to mines, and many of
the army's casualties occurred in this fashion, rather than in
face-to-face combat with the insurgents. Because of the small
geographical area within which the forces were deployed, long
supply lines were not necessary, and individual units frequently
made their own decisions about what rations to carry on a given
operation.
Most training is provided at the Army Training Centre in
Diyatalawa, Badulla District, Uva Province. The center
encompasses three separate facilities: the Sri Lankan Military
Academy, the Non-Commissioned Officers' School, and the Recruit
Training School. The Military Academy was founded in 1981 and
absorbed the earlier Officers' Cadet School and the Officers'
Study Center. In the late 1980s, it was providing training in
tactics and administration, and its graduates were commissioned
as officers in the regular forces. The officer cadets' course
lasted ninety weeks and prepared cadets to serve as platoon
commanders. It included military and academic subjects as well as
physical training, and placed a special emphasis on fostering
leadership qualities and an understanding of the role of the
officer as a servant of the state. Because of an extreme shortage
of officers at the lower levels, a short commission course was
developed to speed the training process. Cadets in this course
received fifty-six weeks of training and committed themselves to
five years of service with the option of continuing their careers
in the military. The Army Training Centre handled approximately
300 recruits at a time and, in 1982, reportedly trained 18
officers. Additional training is provided by individual field
units.
Cadet training was offered at the Sir John Kotelawala Defence
Academy established in 1981 in Ratmalana, fourteen kilometers
south of Colombo. (The academy was named after the nation's third
prime minister.) Each year, the academy admits fifty cadets (ages
seventeen to nineteen) for a three-year program of academic work
and basic training. Graduates continue their studies at a regular
university before taking up a full-time career in the military
services.
With the limited capacity of indigenous training facilities,
the armed forces have relied extensively on foreign military
training. The British played a central role in the early years
following independence and have continued to be an important
source of military expertise. Other sources have included
Pakistan, Australia, Malaysia, and the United States. In
addition, in an agreement reached in 1984, Israeli security
personnel (reportedly from Shin Bet, the Israeli counterespionage
and internal security organization) went to Sri Lanka to train
army officers in counterinsurgency techniques
(see Sri Lanka - Foreign Military Relations
, this ch.).
Data as of October 1988
|
