Parami Kulatunga

Infobox Military Person
name= Parami Sugandika Bandara Kulatunga
lived= 1950- June 26 2006KIA
placeofbirth= Kandy
placeofdeath= Panipitiya, Colombo


caption=Lieutenant General Parami Kulatunga
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
serviceyears= 35 Years
rank=Lieutenant General
branch= Sri Lanka Army
commands=Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army
unit=Gemunu Watch
battles= Sri Lankan Civil War
awards=Rana Sura Padakkama,
Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya,
Uttama Seva Padakkama,
Desha Putra Sammanaya
laterwork= flagicon|Sri Lanka Lieutenant General Parami Sugandika Bandara Kulatunga RSP, VSV, USP, GW (In Sinhalese: Unicode|පාරමී සුගන්ධිකා බණ්ඩාර කුලතුංග) (born 1950 in Kandy, died June 26 2006KIA) was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army, its third highest ranking officer.

On the morning of 26 June he was killed by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who drove an explosives laden motorbike into his official vehicle as it was driving to a military base at Panipitiya near Colombo. He was age 55.

Inspiring and poignant Memorial Dedication for Lt. Gen. Kulatunga was held at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on October 11, 2006.

Education

Parami Kulatunga was educated at Trinity College, Kandy. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College.

Military career

He enlisted in the Sri Lanka Army on 20 July 1971, after his initial military training he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and subsequently posted to the 1st Battalion of the Gemunu Watch on 14 October 1972.

To his credit, he has followed International Military Education & Training Program in the United States and several other courses including the Senior Command Course (India), Advanced Intelligence Course (Singapore), and the Intelligence Staff Officers’ Course (India) and a few other short courses. Apart from that he has also represented Sri Lanka in a number of international symposia, including the Special Operations conference in the US, South Asia Peace Keeping Operations Seminar in Bangladesh, Pacific Armies Management seminar in Malaysia, Senior Military Officers’ Seminar in United Kingdom and United Nations Medal Awarding Parade in Haiti.

Appointments

24.07.1974: Promoted to First Lieutenant.

24.07.1977: Promoted to Captain.

01.06.1982: Promoted to Major.

24.03.1989: Appointed as Staff officer to the Intelligence Operation headquarters, (MOD)

01.10.1989: Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, he continued working at MOD.

06.01.1990: Appointed as a General Staff officer to the 23rd Brigade.

27.06.1993: Promoted to Colonel, at General Staff headquarters 2nd Division.

31.11.1993: Appointed Deputy Commandant of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy at Ratmalana.

10.06.1994: Appointed the Assistant Military Secretary MOD.

01.12.1994: Promoted to Brigadier, he took command of the 22nd Brigade Trincomalee.

28.12.1996: Appointed the Director of Training at the army headquarters.

01.10.1997: Appointed Deputy General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 56th and 54th Divisions.

28.11.1999: Appointed General Officer Commanding of the 52nd Division, Varani.

01.05.2000: Promoted to Major-General, and appointed as GOC of the 11th Division, Panagoda.

06.09.2003: Appointed the Director General of the General Staff, army HQ

10.08.2004: Appointed Commander of Security Forces HQ, Wanni.

06.12.2005: Appointed the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka army.

Awards and decorations

The main military decorations Kulatunga received included Rana Sura Padakkama(RSP), Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP), Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal, Riviresa Campaign Services Medal, Purna Bhumi Padakkama, North and East Operations Medal, Desha Putra Sammanaya amongst others. In 2008 he was posthumously awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya [ [http://www.army.lk/morenews.php?id=12881 Highest Service Medal VSV Conferred on Commander] ] .

Death

On the morning of 26 June he was killed along with two other military personal and a civilian bystander, by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who drove an explosives laden motorbike into his official vehicle as it was driving to a military base at Panipitiya near Colombo from his official quarters at Panagoda Cantonment. He was age 55 at the time of his death.
Major-General Parami Kulatunga was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General effective from 28 June 2006. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5115968.stm|title=Sri Lanka general killed in blast|publisher=BBC News|date=26 June 2006] [ [http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2591 Assassination of Major General Prami Kulathunge] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.army.lk/index1.php Sri Lanka Army website] .
* [http://www.defence.lk/index1.php Sri Lanka Defence News Website] .
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/parami.htm www.rootsweb.ancestry.com] .
* [http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/06/killing_of_sri.html Killing of Sri Lankan general: another sign of civil war] .