Defence Services Command and Staff College

The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

and its aim to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of experienced officers of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy & the Sri Lanka Air Force to prepare them for the ranks of junior field officer

Field officer

A field officer is an army, marine, or air force commissioned officer senior in rank to a company officer but junior to a general officer; in some navies, it is an officer who is a Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or Captain....

s in the army and the respective ranks of the Navy and Air force. The DSCSC was formally known as the Sri Lanka Army Command and Staff College (ACSC).

The Commandant

Commandant

Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...

is a two-star

2 star rank

An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members...

appointment and the current Commandant of the DSCSC is Major General

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

N. A. Ranasinghe RSP

RSP

-Music:* RSP , a Japanese hip-hop and R&B group* Rubber Soul Project, a Serbian rock music band-Computers and technology:* Remote Serial Port, an extension to the Telnet protocol* Reality signal processor, a component of the Nintendo 64...

, USP

Uttama Seva Padakkama

The Uttama Seva Padakkama is presented to all ranks of the Regular Forces of the Sri Lankan military for valuable service and dedication to duty with the outstanding ability, merit and excellent conduct, given that they count not less than 15 years continuous and uninterrupted service and possess...

, ndc, psc

Psc

psc were the initials which appeared in the service lists denoting that a British Army officer had attended the Staff College, Camberley or, prior to 1956 and Pakistani independence, the Command and Staff College, Quetta...

Objectives

The above aim is met through addressing six principal objectives, which are as follows:

Know and be able to apply the functions and techniques of staff in war and peace.

Know and apply the principles and techniques involved in the employment of land forces in particular, and armed forces in general, in all types of military operations.

Analyze the function of command up to and including divisional level.

Know the structure, deployment, roles and interdependence of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

Understand how the Sri Lankan defence policy is formulated and the relationship with military doctrine.

Analyze those issues in national and international affairs, which influence the defence policies of Sri Lanka and her allies.

History

On 1 January 1997, the Staff College was established under the guidance of the then Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

R de S Daluwatte, with Maj Gen AED Wijendra, as its first Commandant.

The Sri Lanka Army was fortunate to obtain the assistance of the British Army in setting up the Staff College, especially with the preparation of the syllabus and teaching material. Initially there had been one British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

or Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

attached as a Training Liaison Officer, to provide advice and teaching material from 1997 to 2001.

The Course at the ACSC being a residential one with a duration of over 11 months is similar to those being conducted by professional armies in the world. It is structured on the same lines to the former single service British Army Staff College at Camberley

Camberley

Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles southwest of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. The town lies close to the borders of both Hampshire and Berkshire; the boundaries intersect on the western edge of the town where all three counties...

, and it imparts knowledge on latest military doctrines to its students in the medium of English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. The first course with 30 students, including officers of the Navy and the Air Force, commenced in March 1998. In future, under a ten-year development plan, it is proposed to expand ACSC in to a Defense Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC), increasing the number of student officers and opening avenues for officers from friendly foreign countries as well.

On 28 August 1998, ACSC was officially inaugurated by Her Excellency the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in the presence of the Tri Service Commanders, Lieutenant General R de S Daluwatta, Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

Cisil Tissera, Air Marshal

Air Marshal

Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

Jayalath Weerakkody

Air Chief Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody RWP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc, SLAF is a retired Sri Lanka Air Force air officer who served as commander of the Air Force from 1998 to 2002....

, Deputy Minister of Defence General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

Anuruddha Ratwatte

General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte was a Sri Lankan politician and Cabinet Minister. He had also served as the Acting Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Tooth Kandy and was educated at Trinity College, Kandy. He was a cousin of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lakshman Kadirgamar

Lakshman Kadirgamar

Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar PC was a Sri Lankan diplomat, politician and a lawyer. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005...

, past Army Commanders, the High Commissioner of UK, His Excellency Mr David Tatam and many other distinguished guests, including many Defence Attaches in the country.

The ACSC was reorganized as the Defence Services Command and Staff College 0n January 22, 2007 following the passing of the Defence Services Command and Staff College Act by parliament.

The Course

The DSCSC course sets out to train officers in basic command and staff techniques, but just as important, it aims to develop the intellectual attributes to cope with their future appointments and the changes that are inevitable in the years ahead. By this process we seek to develop their breadth of understanding and their ability to analyse and evaluate issues in a logical sequence.

The training course at the DSCSC runs for a duration of 11 months. The course is meant for Army, Navy and air force field/senior officers in the ranks of Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

, Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

, Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

, Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

, Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

and Wing Commander

Wing Commander (rank)

Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...

. Officers who are recommended by their Regiments & services for the course have to sit for a competitive entrance examination, after which a board of senior officers make final selections.

Upon completion of the DSCSC course, officers can use the post nominal letters psc.

Course contain and duration

Orientation Module (4 weeks)

TERM 1 – Foundation Studies (10 weeks)

Arms and Services
Combat Services Support
Command, Command Support and Decision Making
Doctrine, Operations and War fighting
Intelligence Staff Duties
General and Logistics Staff Duties
Logistic Staff Duties
Operations of War
Research Methodology

TERM 2 – Operations of War (12 weeks)

Air Warfare
Military Assistance to the Civil Authorities
Operations of War
Strategic Studies and International Affairs

TERM 3 – Operations Other Than War (10 weeks)

Counter Insurgency Operation (COIN)
International Humanitarian Law
International humanitarian law
International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...

(IHL)
Maritime warfare
Sri Lanka Studies
Strategic Studies and International Affairs
UN Peace Support Operations
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....

TERM 4 – Joint Operations and Technology (10 weeks)

Administrative Studies
Environment and Health
Ethics Studies
Joint Operations
Management
Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Defence
Security
Technology
Training

Library

The DSCSC library comprises 3 sections; the Reference Library, Lending Library and Pamphlet Room. The Reference Library is open daily and contains both general and military reference material and periodicals. The Lending Library is open during weekdays; this is principally a military library with a small collection of books and periodicals of general interest. However the college is making arrangements to enhance its collection of books through purchases and donations.

Auditorium

Most central lectures and briefings are conducted in the auditorium, which has modern audio visual aid for the conduct of such activity. This auditorium is temporarily housed at its present location awaiting completion of construction work of a more spacious and modern premises.

Computer Laboratory

The DSCSC provides computer training to students during the Orientation module, with the aim of introducing them to the modern IT Environment. Basic applications such as Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

Operating Systems, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

Office applications, Networking and the use of inter-net are part of the training.

Sports and Recreational Facilities

All student officers are encouraged to actively participate in sports and other extra curricular activities during their stay at the DSCSC. Student officers will have to qualify in the Staff College Physical Assessment tests conducted every term. The following sports facilities are available in the College. Student officers also make use of the facilities available at the Sugathadasa National Indoor Complex.

Commandants

The following have commanded the college:

Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

A.E.D. Wijendra
Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

Janaka Perera
Janaka Perera
Major General Janaka Perera, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP, rcds, psc, CR was a Sri Lankan General and politician. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and is considered one of the most distinguished generals in Sri Lankan history. After retiring from the army he served as a Sri Lankan...
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

Sarath Fonseka
Sarath Fonseka
Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, known as Sarath Fonseka is a former commander and General of the Sri Lanka Army and a former candidate for President of Sri Lanka. As Commander of the Army, he played an instrumental role in ending the 26 year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the...
Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

Lawrence Fernando
Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

N A Ranasinghe