Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0338/03388.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 33KB | 526 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03388}
$Pretitle{296}
$Title{Sri Lanka
Chapter 5B.   The Armed Forces}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Peter R. Blood}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{air
army
training
forces
military
armed
sri
british
government
lankan}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country:     Sri Lanka
Book:        Sri Lanka, A Country Study
Author:      Peter R. Blood
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1990

Chapter 5B.   The Armed Forces

     The armed forces of Sri Lanka bear the clear imprint of the British
institutions and traditions that shaped them. The army was initially formed as
a volunteer force to supplement the British military presence in the late
nineteenth century, and British leadership of Sri Lankan troops continued
through World War II. Even after independence, Britain continued to play a
major role in training, equipping, and symbolically leading of the Sri Lankan
armed forces.

     During the 1970s and 1980s, the armed forces were greatly expanded and
regularized in an attempt to cope with the growing problems of domestic
instability. Despite these efforts, the military still lacked both the
strength and the training to handle the crises that confronted the nation, and
on two occasions the Sri Lankan government asked India to send in troops to
restore internal order.

     Because of their limited size and the pressing demands of internal
security, the military forces have not been deployed overseas. Rare exceptions
have been the dispatch of small military observer groups, in connection with
international peacekeeping efforts, such as the United Nations force on the
Indo-Pakistani border in 1966. In their largely domestic mission of internal
defense, the armed forces resemble the paramilitary and police forces of
larger nations. Since independence, their role has gradually expanded to
include counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, controlling illegal
immigration and smuggling, protecting vital institutions and government
officials, and providing emergency relief during national disasters.

Historical Background

Ancient Military Traditions

     Warfare plays a central role in the historical traditions of Sri Lanka.
The two great literary works of this early period--the Mahavamsa and the
Culavamsa--relate in great detail the battles and campaigns of the ancient
kingdoms (see Ancient Legends and Chronicles, ch. 1). For most of Sri Lanka's
history, these conflicts were confined to the island and its coastal waters as
the various kingdoms battled with each other or attempted to repel new waves
of immigrants and invaders from the mainland. In the twelfth century, however,
Parakramabahu I was able to unify the island and assemble a military force
strong enough to engage in conflicts overseas. In 1164 he sent a naval force
to Burma to retaliate for the poor treatment his envoys had received. In
another expedition, to southern India, his army took part in a succession
struggle for the Pandyan throne.

     Thirteenth-century manuscripts tell of "four-fold" armies in which
divisions of elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry confronted each other
in battle. Troops in this period were raised by local levies among ordinary
citizens, while special corps of "moonlight archers" and mace-bearers were
given extended training. Foreign mercenaries played an important role in these
armies, with Indians (Tamils, Keralas, and Rajputs) especially prominent.

The Armed Forces under British Rule

     Centuries of colonial rule by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British
interrupted Sri Lanka's martial traditions (see European Encroachment and
Dominance, 1500-1948, ch. 1). The kingdoms of Jaffna, Kotte, and Kandy,
divided by bitter rivalries, were unable to mount a unified opposition to the
colonial powers, and one by one, the native armies fell to the superior force
of the invaders. The British defeat of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815-18 marked
the end of an independent Sri Lankan military force. The institution of
colonial rule, however, soon created the need for a native, military force to
maintain order. To fill this need, the colonial government raised a contingent
of light infantry named the Ceylon Rifles. The force was composed largely of
Malay soldiers under British officers, and was the only formation of regular,
full-time troops established in Sri Lanka during the colonial period. As such,
its existence was brief, and when the maintenance of the unit became too
costly, it was disbanded. From 1873 until independence, the island's entire
indigenous force consisted of a volunteer reservist army.

     The first component of this new army, the Ceylon Light Infantry
Volunteers, was established in 1881 by proclamation of the lieutenant
governor. Like the Ceylon Rifles, the new volunteer force was commanded by
British officers, while the ranks were filled out largely with Burghers, a
highly Westernized group that adapted well to the demands of volunteer service
(see Ethnic Groups, ch. 2). A mounted infantry company was added in 1892, and
in 1900 this contingent was called to South Africa to assist the British army
in the Boer War.

     In 1910 the volunteer corps was redesignated as the Ceylon Defence Force.
Although Sri Lankan units were not deployed outside the island in either of
the world wars, individual soldiers served in the British and British Indian
armies. In World War II, the British crown took direct control of the island's
armed forces from the colonial government. During this period, the Ceylon
Light Infantry grew from 1 battalion to 5 battalions, while the total number
of troops in uniform increased to 12,000. Most of these were engaged in
maintenance and transport functions. Their most direct contact with the war
came in April 1942 when the Japanese launched an air attack on Colombo.

The Armed Forces after Independence

     The advent of independence and dominion status in 1948 brought with it a
series of changes in the designation and legal basis for the armed forces. In
1949 the legislature passed a bill authorizing the creation of the Royal
Ceylon Army, Royal Ceylon Navy, and Royal Ceylon Air Force. The army was
formed in October of that year, and the navy and air force were established in
1950 and 1951, respectively. These developments brought substantial changes at
the highest levels of command, establishing an independent military force in
the hands of an indigenous government for the first time in more than 100
years. At the level of individual units, however, the military order
established by the British remained largely unchanged; the officers who took
over as the force commanders had received their training under the British
and, in many cases, in military academies in Britain. The basic structure of
the colonial forces was retained, as were the symbolic trappings--the flags,
banners, and regimental ceremonies (the Duke of Gloucester continued to serve
as the honorary colonel of the Light Infantry until 1972).

     In the early years following independence, military affairs received a
relatively low priority; external security was guaranteed by a mutual security
arrangement with Britain, while the function of internal security was usually
left to the police. In this period, the armed forces served a largely
ceremonial function, providing honor guards for state visits and occasionally
helping to maintain public order. From 1949 to 1955, military expenses took up
between 1 and 4 percent of the national budget (as compared with 20 percent
for India and 35 to 40 percent for Pakistan in the same period), and the
regular forces comprised only about 3,000 officers and enlisted personnel.
(This represented a significant drop from the wartime high of 12,000, some of
whom had been transferred into the reserve forces).

     Even without sophisticated weaponry and training, this token military
force was able to conduct the immigration-control and antismuggling operations
that formed the bulk of its security missions in the 1950s and 1960s. Growing
ethnic tensions after 1956 sp