The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from 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 officers in the army and the respective ranks of the Navy and Air force. The DSCSC was formerly known as the Sri Lanka Army Command and Staff College (ACSC).
The Commandant is a two-star appointment and the current Commandant of the DSCSC Major General BKGML Rodrigo.
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
Army Command and Staff College
Since the establishment of the Ceylon Army in 1949, mid career staff officers were sent to the British Army Staff College, Camberley and later to India's Defence Services Staff College, as well as other overseas staff colleges. With the rapid expansion of the army during the Sri Lankan Civil War, the need for more 'Staff Qualified' officers was felt as the army began mounting multi-division military operations. As a response to this need the army established the Army Command and Staff College (ACSC) on 16 March 1998 with the first course consisting of 26 Student Officers. The College was officially inaugurated on 28 August 1998 by President Chandrika Kumaratunga by the request of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Rohan Daluwatte.
At the inception, a British Army Training Team consisting of two Lieutenant Colonels was attached, in order to assist the faculty to formulate a curriculum similar to the British Joint Services Command and Staff College, but with emphasis on local requirements providing required training material and fine tuning the local faculty's teaching skills. The faculty was driven through an ‘on the job’ Training Programme.
The ACSC was established with the aim of developing the professional knowledge and understanding of selected Student Officers both in command and on staff duties, for the Sri Lanka Army. However, a few selected Student Officers from the Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force too were trained on Army Command and Staff aspects from ACSC Course No 1 onwards. During the 9 years of ACSC (1998-2006), the College produced 253 graduates, of whom 207 were from the Army, 22 were from the Navy, 21 from the Air Force and one from the Police. This was in contrast to 58 ‘Staff Qualified Graduates’ available in the Sri Lanka Army, in the year 1996. The change from ACSC to DSCSC could be perceived as an indication shown from the very inception on the importance of a Joint Services atmosphere. Moreover, the efforts of all military arms was felt imperative to be joint, in order to combat the adversary. Furthermore, changing tactics of adversaries compelled the military to revise its doctrines in war fighting, thus setting conditions for a sound ‘Joint environment’.
Defence Services Command and Staff College
On 22 January 2007, ACSC was re-designated as the Defence Services Command and Staff College, where all military doctrinal and strategic level planning and teachings were brought under one roof with Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga serving as the Chief Guest. he first Commandant of DSCSC was Major General N A Ranasinghe RSP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc, Isc. DSCSC Course No 1 commenced immediately after the inauguration ceremony with 36 Student Officers from the Army, 8 Student Officers from the Navy and 10 Student Officers from the Air Force registering for the first course. The Student Officers from respective Services are functioning under three wings namely Army, Navy and Air, with greater emphasis on Joint Environment.