{"id":100453,"date":"2020-03-28T16:43:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T23:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100453"},"modified":"2020-03-28T16:45:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T23:45:08","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-14-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/28\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-14-d\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 14 D"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Eelam war IV victory can be interpreted historically, as yet another Sinhala triumph over Tamils, when they threaten to destabilize the country. This is not the first time that the Sri Lanka army, acting on its own, defeated Tamils in the north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Gampola period, when Ariyachakravarti, the head of the Pandya outpost at Jaffna, attacked, the Sinhala king ruling at Gampola (forget the name) refused to fight or ran away or some such thing. The army took over and defeated the Tamil invader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2002, the army was in a similar position. The armed services had angrily observed the deliberate bungling of Eelam war II and III. Then came the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002. The Sri Lanka army deeply resented the Ceasefire Agreement. The soldiers had told Kamal Gunaratne in 2005, at Muhamalai, that they preferred an honorable war rather than be insulted and ridiculed by the LTTE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like in the\nGampola period, the armed services decided they were going to fight and they\nwere going to win. Preparation for winning the war started during the Ceasefire\nAgreement of 2002-2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under terms of the Ceasefire agreement negotiated by Norway and underwritten by the US, EU, and Japan, the military was ordered to suspend all operations and return to base. Kamal Gunaratne observed that the soldiers were sitting passively at FDLs and their combat efficiency had deteriorated. The government showed no desire to improve the army during this \u2018rest\u2019 period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eelamists would\nhave hoped that the army\nwould rot away, but\nthat did not happen. Instead, the armed forces used the Ceasefire period to\nimprove the forces. Even before the Ceasefire, during Eelam Wars II and III,\ndespite the defeats, the armed forces had managed to develop additional\ncapabilities.  The capability to mount\nlarge scale amphibious operations, for instance, was developed during Eelam War\nII.   Army conducted Special Infantry\nOperation Team (SIOT) training sessions during\nthe Ceasefire,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The army made a detailed analysis of what they had done wrong in Eelam war II and III. Kamal Gunaratne received valuable input from those who took part in earlier battles, including sergeant majors and sergeants. We rectified the weaknesses and improved our strengths, he said. New products were tested such as a new type of claymore bomb.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Air Mobile training enclave with capable\ncourse instructors and excellent facilities had been set up at Muhamalai,\nduring the ceasefire, on the personal initiative of Col Udaya Perera. It was an\nexcellent facility, with imposing entrance, good accommodation, superb\ncurriculum, and capable teachers, said Kamal Gunaratne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005 Kamal Gunaratne initiated fresh training for his troops. He found that combat efficiency had fallen to a low level because the soldiers had been sitting passively at the Forward Defence Lines, obeying the Ceasefire.\u00a0 All soldiers,\u00a0\u00a0 old and new had to be freshly trained.\u00a0 The soldiers were enthusiastic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not possible to train everybody at once. Therefore, a platoon from each battalion was selected and given six weeks of training. At the end of which they were combat-ready with enhanced combat skills, physical fitness, and a high level of fighting spirit and morale. Kamal Gunaratne made soldiers and officers train together, to develop team spirit and rapport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0The best soldiers from this preliminary course were sent to a \u2018Special Infantry Operatives\u00a0\u00a0 Training Course\u2019,\u00a0 where they were trained in target shooting,\u00a0 marksmanship,\u00a0 sniper attacks, and maximum use of limited ammunition. They became competent and accomplished infantry soldiers.\u00a0 Soldiers with weak marksmanship improved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group was\nthen trained further staring with a Signals training course conducted by the\nSignals Corp. This trained the soldiers in handling communication equipment,\nincluding the highly secure communications devices in the field. Then the group\nwas sent to the School of Artillery for training in obtaining artillery\nsupport, and direction of artillery fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were then sent to the Air Force for training in how to obtain air support for combat. Then came a course on the use of explosives, conducted by the Engineering Corp, then lastly a special training at Commando or Special Forces training schools were inter alia they also learned GPS, first aid and physical training.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Commandos and Special Forces always accommodated our requests despite their busy schedules, said Kamal Gunaratne.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This combined intensive training transformed\nthe infantry soldier to an extremely efficient and capable warrior. This group\nof soldiers received a badge at the end and increased pay. They were then asked\nto go back and train the others. You\ncould see the infantry improve before your eyes, said Kamal Gunaratne.  Firing skills were honed to the highest\nstandard. Even the weakest soldier\nimproved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not all.\u00a0 \u2018Rifle companies\u2019 were given special training at Maduru Oya and Minneriya training schools.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They received training in advanced combat skills, high tech weapons training, and jungle warfare.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Support companies\u2019 trained in operating mortars, machine guns. Selected Non commissioned officers were sent to Non-Commissioned Officers Training School in Kala Oya for leadership training so that they could provide their troops with good junior level leadership.\u00a0 Special Operations Platoon and Recce platoons were given specialist training. This was not officially sanctioned training but was an initiative of a group of visionary commanding officers who got together at a personal level and planned this, said Kamal Gunaratne.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soldiers had to be physically very fit since they carried into the battlefield, protective helmet, body armor, weapons, ammunition, food, and water, which put together weighed a lot. They had to carry all this while moving through minefields. The soldiers also had to be trained to withstand the high temperature of the north. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE mostly attacked us during the night. The soldiers were therefore scared of darkness, said Kamal Gunaratne. We showed them that for infantrymen, darkness is our best friend as we are not visible to the enemies. We inculcated this in the minds of our soldiers and trained them in night fighting. Finally, they became good night fighters.\u00a0 They were also trained in GPS night vision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005 the government changed, Mahinda Rajapaksa became President and Gotabaya Rajapaksa was Secretary, Defence. The two brothers prepared for war. They changed their attitude to the war. Instead of the defeatist \u2018, We can never win this war,\u2019 they substituted \u2018We will definitely win this war\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Eelam War II and III, there was a reluctance to join the army. Also, the public had been given a poor image of the soldier. Gotabaya Rajapaksa took steps to change this. \u2018Army karaya\u2019 was replaced with \u2018ranaviruwa\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotabaya Rajapaksa decided that an advertising campaign that would simultaneously bring in recruits and also change the negative image of the soldier was needed. Rs. 1 billion worth of advertising was negotiated free of charge, with all local media companies contributing. Triad Advertising was given the account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em>Initial agency research showed that a\nmajor shake-up in the attitudes and perceptions of the general public was\nessential before attempting to attract new recruits. A stronger, more positive\nimage of the soldier had to be crafted first, in order to create respect for\nthis profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of depicting the soldier as a Rambo-style hero in battle, Triad produced an advertisement that said the soldier was one of us\u201d. The images showed touching, intimate moments of family life. By presenting the soldier as a son, a daughter, a fianc\u00e9, a neighbor and a friend, the communication created a strong bond between the soldiers and the general public, said, analysts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My recall is that there were three different presentations, set in three different backgrounds, catering to different ethnic, religious and age groups. The impact of the advertisement was not in the visuals but in the song. \u00a0The song had meaningful lyrics, a haunting melody and was sung beautifully, with feeling.\u00a0 It became a hit. Mobile phones used it as a ring tone\u201d due to its popularity. The images, lyrics, and music were an emotionally charged combination that appealed to the viewer, said, analysts. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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