Sri Lanka’s Military Sri Lanka’s Military: The Search For A Mission Brian Blodgett Aventine Press © July 2004, by Brian Blodgett First Edition Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. Published by Aventine Press 1023 4th Ave #204 San Diego CA, 92101 www.aventinepress.com ISBN: 1-59330-182-0 Printed in the United States of America ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am especially grateful to my wife Melissa, who inspires me to continue my education and is always by my side, supporting my every effort. I want to thank my children, Ben, Kel, and Sarah-Kate, for making my life more enjoyable each and every day. I am also thankful to my parents, Chancy and Bernadine Blodgett, who taught me that learning is a lifelong achievement. Lastly, I am deeply indebted to the dedicated staff and faculty members of the American Military University (a member of the American Public University System), and the Joint Military Intelligence College. The fine men and women of both of these universities greatly assisted me not only with this book, but also with furthering my education. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Sri Lanka’s Military: The Search for a Mission........................1 CHAPTER 2 Geography and Infrastructure....................................................9 CHAPTER 3 Pre-Independence History and Society....................................13 CHAPTER 4 The Military of the 1940s.........................................................21 CHAPTER 5 The Military of the 1950s.........................................................33 CHAPTER 6 The Military of the 1960s.........................................................49 CHAPTER 7 The Military of the 1970s.........................................................63 CHAPTER 8 The Military of the 1980s.........................................................83 CHAPTER 9 The Military of the 1990s.......................................................107 CHAPTER 10 The Military of the 2000s.......................................................133 CHAPTER 11 The Future?............................................................................147 BIBLOGRAPHY....................................................................157 ENDNOTES.........................................................................169 CHAPTER 1 SRI LANKA’S MILITARY: THE SEARCH FOR A MISSION INTRODUCTION This book’s purpose is to explain the military’s search for a mission and its changing definition that determined its operations, doctrine and tactics, command and organization, equipment purchases, and personnel management. The book concludes with an assessment of the military’s future mission and its capability to accomplish the mission. Since Sri Lanka’s independence in 1947, the military had a mission to defend the country from external and internal threats. The government’s initial concern was invasion by India. The military’s original focus was to have a defense force capable of meeting any external threat until assistance arrived from Britain as guaranteed by the 1947 Defence and External Affairs Agreement. As the threat of an external invasion disappeared, so did the military’s “combat” mission. In reality, the military was never capable of conducting even that limited mission. In fact, throughout the first three and a half decades of the country’s existence, Sri Lanka’s military did not have a legitimate military combat mission, but served as a quasi police force – providing assistance to the real police force when 2 Brian Blodgett called upon by the government. When the Sri Lanka Jaffna Tamils revolted in 1983, the military’s mission was refocused on the insurgency. It was completely unprepared and unable to defend the country against an internal threat. This research assesses the impact of the government’s use of the military throughout the past 56 years and how it shaped the military’s mission -- resulting in changes to the military’s organization, doctrine, equipment purchases, recruitment, and training. The paper concludes with an assessment of the military’s future mission and its capability to accomplish the mission. The study of the military’s search for a mission is important because Sri Lanka is just one of the many countries in the world that has a military without a legitimate external defense mission. The increase in U.S. military deployments to relatively unknown areas will result in U.S. forces entering these countries. By understanding the development of the military and its “perceived” mission, the U.S. will be better capable of working with the military. SCOPE This book examines how internal politics, international agreements, and ethnic conflict caused Sri Lanka’s military to adopt variety of missions. The book focuses on the military’s operations, command and organization, doctrine and tactics, equipment purchases, and personnel management. Studying these areas allows for an assessment of the military’s future mission and a detailed analysis of its capability to accomplish it. The mission of the Sri Lankan military will change over the next six years, 2004-2010, because of the eventual signing of a peace agreement between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This agreement will leave the military without a mission. This book analyzes what the new Sri Lanka’s Military 3 mission will be and what the future Sri Lankan military will look like. Key questions answered within this book are: 1. How did the Sri Lankan military develop as it did? What were the identifiable forces for change? 2. What is the current military force structure and how has it changed since Independence in 1947? 3. What will be the military’s mission after the ethnic conflict ends? 4. What impact will the end of the ethnic conflict have on the military? 5. What role will the Sri Lankan military have in the future? 6. What military force structure is required for Sri Lanka in the future? METHODOLOGY The methodology used is a single case study using structured historical data and analysis to derive specific findings. The hypothesis is that the military’s focus and force structure has changed because of changes in mission definition. Intensive research and data analysis was required to support the hypothesis. Data and information came from books, periodicals, websites, interviews, and official government publications. While collecting this data, it was necessary to examine the data carefully to ensure that the information was valid and reliable. It was difficult to control for validity and reliability because some of the evidence was seemingly contradictory or incomplete. Information that was not specifically verifiable was either not included, or noted as such. The hypothesis that Sri Lanka’s military has continuously searched for a mission since the country’s independence was confirmed based on research and interviews. The research concludes that domestic peace will have an impact on the 4 Brian Blodgett military’s mission and affect its future operations, command and organization, doctrine and tactics, equipment purchases, and personnel management. The Sri Lankan military will initially turn its attention outward to national security issues and away from domestic concerns. But without a legitimate external threat, the military will assume the mantle of providing domestic assistance to the people and become incapable of defending the country against any threat – external or internal. LIMITATIONS The lack of detailed information on Sri Lanka’s military forces, both past and present, constitutes a constraint familiar to all researchers investigating international militaries. This book uses six major sources and over one-hundred and thirty secondary sources. The major sources are Sri Lanka Army’s 50 Years On: 1949 – 1999; Sri Lanka’s Air Force’s Wings of Sri Lanka (1951 – 2001); G. B. Keerawella and Lt. Cmd. S. Hemachandre’s Ceylon Navy: Enhanced Role and New Challenges; Jane’s Sentinel: Security Assessment – South Asia, the International Institute for Strategic Studies Military Balance 1972 – 1973 to 2002 – 2003 annual reference books; and email interviews with Padman Mendis, the Sri Lanka Air Force commander from 1970 to 1975. The intent was to cross-check quantifiable data through multiple secondary sources to ensure accuracy. SRI LANKA’S BACKGROUND Chapters 2 and 3 are on Sri Lanka’s background. Chapter 2 focuses on Sri Lanka’s background and discusses its geography and infrastructure. Chapter 3 discusses the country’s pre- independence history, and society. It is important to understand how each of these areas influenced the development of the country’s military. The country’s geography and infrastructure affects the military’s operations and imposes limitations on Sri Lanka’s Military 5 their doctrine, tactics, and equipment. The pre-independence history is important since the military likely adopted its doctrine, tactics, training, and initial weapon systems based on its colonial heritage. Understanding the country’s society is critical because many conflicts are the result of clashes between groups of differing cultures or religion. Although there is a plethora of sources available, the issues are their detail and accuracy. For the geographic section, two country studies and two