Three generations of Goonetilekes in SLAF

The great news of the capture of the last LTTE positions in Puthukudiyiruppu by the army supported very effectively by the SLN and the SLAF on the night of 4/5th April came as a super morale booster to the people of SL although not everyone celebrated it because fearing reprisals by the cut throats of the LTTE, many Tamils remained quiet. However the Tamil Diaspora abroad anticipating a fiery end to the LTTE’S death dealing machine raised cries, danced the jig jig and being calculatingly clever decided to jump into rivers crammed with rescue boats in preference to its threats of self immolation. None of them like in other Diasporas however tried to return to SL to be there at the end.

The news that the SLAF Commander Air Marshal Roshan Goonetileke’s son Rehan too will soon join the SLAF could not have come at a better time.

This will be the first time in the SLAF that 3 generations from one family would have consecutively served in it. It may be a record in the Commonwealth which has fought in 2 WWs and maybe the world. This is something the SLN and the Army may sooner or later match. All this in less than 60 years.

The intrepid Goonetileke’s had 2 generations commanding the service too.

Roshan Goonetileke’s father Air Marshal Harry Goonetileke was the fifth SLAF Commander. Sadly one of Roshan’s brothers Shirantha, a combat pilot, was killed in action over Jaffna in the mid 1990s.

All 3 services have had very many sons and some daughters of first generation servicemen joining up to serve, not only in their father’s service but in the other two as well. The Army and SLN have not had 2 Commanders yet from one family. One unique example in the Army is that of the Halangode’s where the senior John was the founder and first Commanding Officer of the First Battalion Gemunu Watch (motto -’Forward, Tarry Not’) the 3rd most senior Infantry Regiment which has 20 battalions today, nearly all of them together with the other 4 Infantry regiments (each also having 20 battalions) battling it out with the LTTE with hard won success.

He retired after commanding Force Colombo having served in Mannar and Jaffna during peace time. His son Hiran serving during the 30 year conflict with the LTTE too commanded the First Battalion but under continuous conflict conditions after graduating from the United States War College. He retired after commanding the elite Airborne Brigade in Operation Rivirasa which captured the Jaffna Fort and later a division in Mannar. Brigadier Minoo Jilla (deceased) who commanded the SLA Medical Corps (SLAMC) however saw his son Robin joining the SLAF where he became a Group Captain before retiring. The SLN too had a father Admiral Basil Goonesekera who commanded the SLN and whose son too joined when the entry qualifications were lowered but did not stay for long. The Army had its former Commander Hamilton Wanasinghe’s son joining when the IPKF was in SL.

Now of all times a former SLAF officer has decided to inform a Sunday tabloid that all know is consistent only in its opposition to the SL Forces defeating the LTTE, that the present SLAF Commander has lowered the education criteria to get his son who is already a licensed pilot into the SLAF. On the surface this may appear to be something that calls for an explanation. On the other hand does the SLAF lose or gain by inducting the Commander’s son in the General Duties (Pilots) branch (fighting arm) of the service in times of intense and crucial strife in a 30 year terrorist campaign when the SLAF has played a telling role, losing many of its pilots in action. The SLAF brought not only devastation but also blood curdling fear to the LTTE. However as it often ghoulishly refers to SLAF bombing as the only one of its kind in the world, much of its target selection and direction finding seems to have suffered from lack of precision weapons.

This appears of late to be the frustration it is consigned to suffer into eternity

It is curious that the same paper used to brazenly produce half cooked ‘statistics’ of deserters to demoralize the nation and encourage the LTTE.

It refers to related cases too in the SLAF. Readers may remember that when the C in C’s son joined the SLN and was under training to go to Britannica Royal Navy College Dartmouth, a similar ‘dirty war’ was fought to no avail.

Roshitha is now serving in Trincomalee. Former army commander Wanasinghe’s son too went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the late 1980s but quit before finishing the course. This was not unexpected as earlier when he was training at the SL Military Academy although being almost at the tail of his batch, he was selected over the heads of the best 20 officer cadets in his intake. Wanasinghe used to explain that his favoured son quit because he was called ‘Hitler’s son’ by the other cadets at the 265 year oldest and best military academy in the world which continues to train officer cadets from SL and about 50 other countries.

The rag also attacks the new promotion regulations for SLAF officers in ‘unceasing waves’ having used classic infiltration tactics reminiscent of Praba’s guerillas. It appears to be a repeat of the identical way it attacked the Army’s revolutionary new promotion regulations a couple of years ago. These rejuvenated the graying spirit and morale of the army and suddenly officers who were ready to lead by example and fight to defeat the LTTE became household names. Nor can the paper’s incessant attacks on the army commander when he made bold to predict the end of the LTTE be forgotten. It has again produced similar asinine objections to the changes made by the SLAF to encourage and ensure that officers who have proved themselves and opted to remain in the service, command it in the future.

Just as frustrated senior officers living comfortable lives in plush offices or retired officers in the army became ‘whistle blowers’ of mean repute when hostilities broke out, it was very apparent that a few in the SLAF too who had been found wanting or desired revenge for a slight apparently received in service, leaked sensitive and confidential information to the same accursed tabloid that remains a favourite of this disreputable tribe. These officers have lost for ever their membership of the special brotherhood of the forces that binds true men for a mess of pottage.

Does this tabloid know that the SL defence forces can teach their counterparts especially in the developed world, a thing or two about sorting out terrorists and insurgents in a manner they would never have thought possible until the SL Forces showed the way.

So what exactly does it aim to do with its insidious attacks? It is craftily ingenious. It throws muck around hoping some of it will stick to pay back the NGOs/LTTE for its ‘no one says what the amount is’ support.

This smelly stuff may have been mistakenly thought to be ‘elegies written in a grave yard’. Or as the fashion is now ‘hymns’ written by close friends or even the nation’s enemies.

Who cares? We have won despite the efforts of the NGO/LTTE media Axis that had power but no responsibility - like women of the night. After all the Golden Fleece also paid Rs. 20 million through its bank but not only to the TRO.

PBI Soldier