Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage has been promoted to the rank of Admiral with effect from tomorrow (28), sources said.
He is set to retire at the end of this month while Rear Admiral Jayantha Perera, who has been promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral, will take over the reins as Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy with effect from July 1.
Vice Admiral Colombage was appointed as the 18th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy and promoted to the 3-star rank of Vice Admiral on 27th September 2012.
He served as the Commander Eastern Naval Area at the historic Naval Dockyard in Trincomalee until he was chosen to steer the Sri Lanka Navy. He has achieved many firsts in his distinguished, decorative and unblemished Naval career spanning 34 years. He has been conferred with two Masters Degrees - Master of Science in Defence Studies and Master of Arts in International Studies. Presently, Vice Admiral Colombage is reading for his Doctorate in Philosophy.
Vice Admiral Colombage has been a regular lecturer at the Defence Services Command and Staff College in Colombo since its inception. He is an expert in Maritime Security and has published papers and conducted National-Level Seminars on Maritime Security. He has been certified by the International Maritime Organization as a lecturer in International Conventions on Port and Ship Security. He has presented scores of papers on Maritime Terrorism related subjects in Sri Lanka as well as at international forums. He has published a book titled ‘Naval Terms and Expressions’ and actively contributes to various academic forums.
He is a distinguished alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in India, Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii in the United States of America and Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of the Nautical Institute of the United Kingdom and currently the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Branch. He holds Diplomas in Security Studies, Conflict Resolution, International Affairs and Information Technology.
Vice Admiral Colombage joined the Sri Lanka Navy as an Officer Cadet on 23rd August 1978 and successfully completed his basic training at the renowned Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee winning the ‘Sword of Honour’ for the Best Officer Cadet of the 7th Intake. He was then selected to attend the prestigious International Midshipmen Course in the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in the United Kingdom.
He has commanded four Operational Naval Commands, namely, Eastern, Northern, Western and North Central, for a period of over 5 years. He served twice as the Director General Operations at Naval Headquarters. Prior to that, he served as the Director General Services as well as the Director Naval Training and Personnel. He has also served in the appointments of Deputy Area Commander (North Central), Deputy Area Commander (South) and Deputy Area Commander (East).
