Mendaka Samarasinghe
Major General M.C. Mendaka. P. Samarasinghe, RWP, RSP, USP, ndc, psc, SLE (April 1, 1958) was a Sri Lankan general and former Chief of Staff, Sri Lanka Army and also the former Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna; he was also the General Officer Commanding, 22 Division. Samarasinghe was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia, where he captained the College Boxing Team, led the Junior and Senior Cadet Platoons as the Sergeant, played 2 XV Rugby and was also a college prefect. Smarasinghe joined the army in July 1978 after leaving school and was commissioned into the 1st Field Engineer Regiment, Sri Lanka Engineers in 1980 as a Second Lieutenant after winning the Sword of Honour for the Best All Round Cadet in his batch. He has several important command and staff appointments such as Overall Operations Commander (Western Province & Colombo), General Officer Commanding 22 Division, Director General General Staff - Army Headquarters, Deputy General Officer Commanding 53 Infantry Division, Brigade Commander - Engineer Brigade, Brigade Commander - 561 Infantry Brigade, Brigade Commander - 552 Infantry Brigade, Commandant - Sri Lanka Military Academy. He has also served as General Staff Officer 1(Plans)-Army Headquarters, Colonel General Staff-55 Infantry Division,