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| Sunday, 10 November 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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In war or peace... : The Navy makes waves in the Forces by Jayanthi Liyanage and Farah Marcan Markar
The powder blue of the sea is a mirror of the sky's pure azure as morning breaks on Trinco bay. On its hilly banks, there is monkey chatter, and deer drift out to idle in the jungle skirting the Island's prime naval base.. In this leafy hideout, peace is a slow, serene, sleepy whisper and it is hard to believe that it was just the other day that the Navy captured a boat smuggling in claymore mines and communication sets. An incongruity, which rang out the night before in the words of Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, at the base's ornamental Ward Room, where newly-commissioned midshipmen partied with senior officers and tasted the regimental glory of naval traditions as the band played on. "In war or peace, the Navy knows no peace, which is specially true for our Island nation! George Washington said, 'in peace, be prepared to work'!" Which brings us to the sharp reality that the Navy is the "silent service" which grinds "come hell or high water" on our island coastline of 1,340 km as the first line of its defence. The Ceasefire Agreement has not altered this legitimate right, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has ruled, and the Navy's Dvora Squadron goes on combing its territorial seas for intruder vessels. "You, as the Navy, protect the massive wealth the ocean hides around us," Minister of Defence, Transport, Highways and Aviation, Tilak Marapana reminded the newest batch of Midshipmen and the Volunteer Naval Recruits to get their basic training at the country's prime naval school, the Naval and Maritime Academy, which offers University of Kelaniya-affiliated degrees.
The Navy is a seat of learning rating over other armed forces as many get to "sail over the high seas" for training and higher education. The last 35 years has had many an officer and rating leaving its doors for "fair winds and smooth sailing" in combat training, electronic engineering, gunnery, navigation, seamanship, diving and anti-submarine warfare, among other things. At sun rise, whether on ship or base, the bugle calls the Navals for the "colours" drill and flags run at full-mast. As the dying rays of the setting sun steal over the Gun Rooms where the navals settle for the night, flags are downed in a "ceremonial sunset." It also became the grand finale, bursting out in glorious colours, when the commissioning parade ended. As the last strains of "Abide with Me" and "Amazing Grace" faded with the lights, through the night came the music of the bagpiper, and the dying sun detonated in a myriad of colours. The flags came down and the ceremony was over. And another "flottila of sailors" sailed out into the night and the stormy seas. "Bon Voyage," was all we could wish them. It is a voyage which could go deeper inland, specially in areas such as the stretch from Thiriyaya to Nilaweli, where civilian welfare is given over to the Navy. In Thiriyaya, freed of mines and opened for resettlement, the Trinco-Thiriyaya bus arriving at an expanse of water at Sagarapura, sheds its role of a carrier and becomes a passenger. It sits docilely, like a massive duck, on the ferry bound to the other shore, Poduwakattu, with mo-bikers, push bikers and men and women bustling around. Provision of fuel to the Road Development Authority-run ferry costs Thiriyaya-based Walagamba Battalion more than Rs. 70,000 a month but does not deter them from also looking after the newly-cleared ruins of Girihandu Seya Temple in Kutchaweli, which is said to contain the hair-relics which Lord Buddha gifted to Thapassu and Balluka. At the Naval Museum, Hoods Tower, a vigil which began in the eleventh century reign of King Parakramabahu and strayed into the colonial dominance of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, is still not over. Hiding under a camouflaging rocky reef and the thick foliage which hides the sprawling Trinco Naval Base, a mammoth, revolving gun keeps a lone tryst with the Island's destiny, its barrel aimed at the harbour entrance at Foul Point. Fixed to the barrel is a mount where a look-out sentry would have sat "but evidence shows that firing hadn't jerked or vibrated the mount even by a decimal," says Capt. Rohan Amerasinghe, Deputy Director-Naval Intelligence and Media Spokesman, Colombo Headquarters. He marvels at the gun's positioning. "No vessel coming to the harbour mouth could have ever escaped its watchful eye." The war is over. But for the Navy, the vigil has just begun. *********************** Grandeur of the Commissioning Parade
It is Saturday November 2nd, 2002. It is late evening, about 5.30 p.m. The sun is descending from its throne in the sky. A grey, cemented ground - the shape of a ship's deckyard, pure white chains anchored around it. In the middle, right in front, a ship's mast stands tall, multi coloured flags flying high on it, from top to bottom, waving at the people below. In the middle of the grounds rows of officers, sailors and those about to be commissioned and those about to pass out, stand, their crisp white uniforms with gold buttons, glistening in the moonlight. This is the beginning of the ceremony of the commisioning parade of the 32nd intake of midshipmen and the passing out parade of the 89th intake of volunteer naval recruits at the Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee. While all those on the ground or rather the deck of the ship stand still smartly, only changing position according to the given commands, the proud, emotional, families and relatives wait excitedly at the tents decorated with flags, surrounding the "deck". In the Navy, time is valued. Every event in the parade happens to the minute. At 5.49 p.m. sharp, the parade begins with the Sound Markers and the Bugle Call. At 5.51 the band marches in to the Bugle Call played by the bagpipers. A trace of British tradition handed to us when the Navy was formed. At 6.09 p.m. the Commandant-Captain(C) SMB Weerasekara followed at 6.12 p.m. by the Commander of the Navy - Vice Admiral DWK Sandagiri comes in. Chief Guest Tilak Marapana - Minister of Defence and Minister of Transport, Highways and Aviation, arrives at 6.14 p.m. led by the lowest to the senior most ranks in the Navy. With the arrival of the Chief Guest, the lights are switched on and the "Deck" lit up for the night. The next event is the Inspection of the guard and the commissioning of the 12 officers and the passing out of the, 83, Volunteer Naval Force recruits. At 6.25 p.m. awards are presented followed by the awarding of swords.Among the midshipmen SDCC Sandanayaka was awarded Best Sportsman, JSD Silva awarded Best Marksman and RDIC Gunawardena obtainer of the highest aggregate in professional subjects, highest aggregate in overall subjects and Best Midshipman. Among the recruits BMI Rathnayaka was awarded Best Sportsman, UNNB Tennakoon - Best Marksman and DMPK Dissanayake- Best Recruit. BMRU Basnayake obtained highest aggregate in overall subjects and the Sooraya Division awarded Best Division. The presentation of awards is followed by the Chief Guest Minister Marapana's speech. Thanking the forces for their services and pointing that the Navy is a force that is indispensable he says: "Our country is an island surounded by water. It is open to anything at anytime. The Navy personnel are its watchdogs, roaming its waters silently, constantly guarding it, for us. This is what those being commissioned and those passing out are about to undertake". Next is the march past and the drill display. Navy personnel do various formations and suddenly the display comes to a stop. The band stops playing and everyone in the parade freezes on the spot, their backs bent, their heads down. The lights go off and silence sets in. All of a sudden balls of fire shoot up into the air and burst with a bang. A fireworks display. Then follows the cultural display and an exciting Naval Infantry Demonstration. The lights are off once more and darkness sets in. An ambush is staged in which it shows a glimps of how an attack is done in war. The staged show is made to seem very real with the deafning sound of gun fire, bursts of light, depicting firing and the sudden sound of what is supposed to be a bomb explosion. The final event is the sunset. The lights are off. It is dark. The ground empty, except for the band, which plays a soft, slow melodious tune in the corner. The Naval Ritual signals the setting of the sun for all those above the deck to go down. It's the end of the day. |
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