As most of our readers do not have a proper idea of the organization of the military including the heirachy and the formation of the army divisions we at CeylonDefence thought of enlightening you on the subject.
Executive Control & administration of military organizations
In a democratic country the head of the military oraganization is the commander-in-chief,the president of the counry(ex-Sri Lanka,USA).The defence minister is the second in command.In our case the president himself is the minister of defence.Currently one of the most famous men in Sri lanka ,the defence secretary is subordinated to the defence minster.The Ministry of Defence of which the defence secretary is the head is the highest level of military headquarters charged with formulating, executing defence policy and procurements for the Armed Forces.
Operational and defence policy decisions are taken by the National Defence Council.The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the head of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and is a member of the National Security Council headed by the president.Although the commanders of the three fold forces come under the The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDs),they have much autonomy in military operations.Under these commanders comes the respective officers of the tri armed forces.Here we are concentrating only on the structure of the Sri Lanka Army(SLA).
Sri Lanka Army
The professional head of the Sri Lanka Army is the Commander of the Army, currently Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka.He is assisted by the Chief of Staff of the Army, Major General Nissanka Wijesinghe.The Army Headquarters, situated in Colombo is the main administrative and the operational headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army. It is divided into a number of branches of which we are not going to discuss here. The Headquarters of field formations each have its own staff. For instance a divisional headquarters is divided into a GS branch as an AQ branch, each headed by a Colonel and is responsible for operations & training and administration & logistics respectively. Similarly, a Brigade Major and Major AQ is responsible for operations and administration in a brigade. Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna (SFHQ-J), Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni (SFHQ-W), Security Forces Headquarters - East (SFHQ-E) are such divisional headquarters
Sri Lanka 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) operate independently and recruit their own members. Officers tend to remain in a single battalion throughout their careers. The infantry battalion, the basic unit of organization in field operations, includes five companies of four platoons each. Typical platoon have three squads (sections) of ten personnel each. In addition to the basic infantry forces, a commando regiment was also established in 1986. Support for the infantry is provided by an armoured regiment, five reconnaissance regiments, three mechanized infantry regiments, five field artillery regiments, a rocket artillery regiment, three commando regiments , three special forces regiments, six field engineering regiments, five signals battalions, a medical corps, and a variety of logistics units.
Regiments & Corps
* Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC)
* Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA)
* Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE)
* Sri Lanka Signals Corps (SLSC)
* Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI)
* Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR)
* Gemunu Watch (GW)
* Gajaba Regiment (GR)
* Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (VIR)
* Mechanized Infantry Regiment
* President's Guard]
* Commando Regiment (CR)
* Special Forces Regiment (SF)
* Military Intelligence Corps
* Engineer Services Regiment
* Sri Lanka Army Service Corps
* Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps
* Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps
* Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
* Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police
* Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps
* Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps
* Sri Lanka Rifle Corps
* Sri Lanka Army Pioneer Corps
* Sri Lanka National Guard
The various divisions of the Sri Lanka Army have been the topic of discussion in sri Lanka lately.The success of the military operation and also the promotion given by various media has made these divisions and their GOCs(General Officer Commanding)s popular.Although the active offensive divisions and Task Forces are known to most of the people,they do not have much knowledge of some offensive divisions as well as the defencesive divions which are playing a vital role in the current operations.So next we will see the divisions and their sub formations.Before moving on to it refer to the table below to get a proper understanding of the army hierarchy.
Following is the formation of a modern army.this is the structure common to most armies.But there may be few differences in the structure in countries.Even in Sri Lanka the structure is not exactly similar to this.There are differences in numbers as well as the order.
| APP-6A Symbol | Name | Strength | Constituent units | Commander or leader |
| XXXXXX | 1,000,000+ | 4+ army groups | ||
| XXXXX | 250,000+ | 2+ armies | general, army general, or field marshal | |
| XXXX | 60,000–100,000+ | 2–4 corps | general, army general, or colonel general | |
| XXX | 30,000–80,000 | 2+ divisions | ||
| XX | 10,000–20,000 | 2–4 brigades or regiments | ||
| X | 2000–5000 | 2+ regiments, 3–6 battalions or Commonwealth regiments | ||
| III | regiment or group | 2000–3000 | 2+ battalions or U.S. Cavalry squadrons | colonel |
| II | infantry battalion, U.S. Cavalry squadron, or Commonwealth armoured regiment | 300–1000 | 2–6 companies, batteries, U.S. Cavalry troops, or Commonwealth squadrons | |
| I | infantry company, artillery battery, U.S. Cavalry troop, or Commonwealth armour or combat engineering squadron | 70–250 | 2–8 platoons or Commonwealth troops | chief warrant officer and captain or major |
| ••• | 25–60 | 2+ squads, sections, or vehicles | warrant officer and first or second lieutenant | |
| •• | 8–12 | 2+ fireteams | ||
| • | squad or crew | 8–16 | 2+ fireteams or 1+ cell | corporal to staff sergeant |
| Ø | 4–5 | n/a | ||
| Ø | 2 | n/a |
source -Wikipedia
Operational Command
Various formations are also raised from time to time to suit various security requirements in the country. The Army at present has deployed 12 Divisions, 8 task forces and several independent brigades. Each division is commanded by a General Officer Commanding in the rank of Major General(or Brigadier). Except for the 11 Division based at the Panagoda Cantonment which is responsible for the maintenance of capability for the defence of the capital, all other divisions are deployed for operations in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, coming under three operational commands, which are the Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna (SFHQ-J), Wanni (SFHQ-W) & East (SFHQ-E). Each division is further divided into brigades. Each brigade is commanded by an officer in the rank of Brigadier and has a number of Infantry battalions, support arms (Artillery, Engineers and Signals) and support services (Service Corps, Engineering Services, Ordnance Corps, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) under assigned to it. In other parts of the country, there are Area and Sub-Area Headquarters. Armour, Artillery, Engineers and Signals Units are grouped under Brigade Headquarters of their own arm; Armored Brigade, Artillery Brigade and so on.
Combat formations
Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna (SFHQ-J)
* 51 Division, based in Jaffna
* 52 Division, based in the Jaffna Peninsula
* 53 Division, based in Elephant Pass, Jaffna Peninsula[29]
o Mechanized Infantry Brigade
o Air Mobile Brigade
* 55 Division, in Elephant Pass, Jaffna Peninsula
* Armored Brigade
Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni (SFHQ-W) [30]
* 56 Division, operating in the Vavuniya District
* 57 Division, operating in the Mullativu District
o 57-1 Brigade
o 57-2 Brigade
o 57-3 Brigade
o 57-4 Brigade
* 58 Division, operating in Elephant Pass (formally refereed to as the Task Force 1)
o 58-1 Brigade
o 58-2 Brigade
o 58-3 Brigade
o Commando 2 Brigade
* 59 Division, operating in Mullaittivu District
o 59-1 Brigade
o 59-2 Brigade
o 59-3 Brigade
* 61 Division, operating in the Vavuniya District
* Task Force 2, operating in the Mullattivu District
* Task Force 3, operating in the Mullattivu District
* Task Force 4, operating in the Mullattivu District
* Task Force 5,Mannar District
* Task Force 6,Pooneryn(Killinochchi District)
* Task Force 7,EPS(Jaffna District)
* Task Force 8,PTK(Mullativu DIstrict)
Security Forces Headquarters - East (SFHQ-E)
* 21 Division, based in Trincomalee District
* 22 Division, based in Trincomalee
* 23 Division, based in Poonani, Batticaloa District
Independent
* 11 Division, based at the Panagoda Cantonment, Western Province
Disbanded
* 54 Division, based at Elephant Pass
* 2 Division
* 3 Division
sources-Ministry of Defence,Sri Lanka Army,Wikipedia
Await an update on the latest news from the battlefront
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1 comment:
very informative...tks
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