Sri Lanka Army’s first women paratroopers:

On cloud nine

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

Training to jump

Mother Nature creates each human being to be unique and magnificent while some are made to become extraordinary. Each character adds a unique colour to the web of life and this itself is the secret of a wonderful world. Traditionally, women are expected to be soft and tender in nature, bringing smoothness to life with their soft touch.

Women themselves may not know how wonderful their characters could be until their lives are challenged with unimaginable tasks. For instance, Captain Samangie Vidhanage and Corporals Niroshani Hemanthi and Kalyani Kahawala never had the faintest idea that they will be facing the challenge of making history in the Sri Lanka Army. Today, words cannot sufficiently portray their true nature and achievements. They became the first Women Paratroopers of the Sri Lanka Army while Captain Samangie Vidhanage became the first woman officer of the Sri Lankan Security Forces to pass out as a Paratrooper.

“First, harsh criticism came basically from my friends. They simply asked ‘Have you gone crazy?’. Capt. Vidhanage said with a hearty laugh. Today they are all proud of her and proudest of all are her parents. Vidhanage, a woman small in stature, made a significant mark in history, bringing honour not only to the Army and her family, but to all courageous women of this country.

“It was not easy at the beginning. And the first two weeks were the hardest,” Vidhanage said recalling the tough training she went through with Corporal Kalyani Kahawala by her side.

“The course was never modified for us simply because becoming a paratrooper was not just a game; it needs physical and mental fitness and irrespective of gender one has to be daringly courageous. There are instances where even a man will lose his courage,” she said. Surely this is not an issue of being a man or a woman. As these three young women relate, it is all about courage and fitness.

Vidhanage, the hockey player from St. Sebastian Convent in Kandana, joined the Women’s Corp under the fourth Volunteer Women Officer Intake in 1997 and her first appointment was at Anuradhapura followed by Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar, and before being recruited for the Paratrooper Course, she was in service at Achchuveli, Jaffna.

“One of my friends who is a skydiver really inspired me. His experiences were fascinating and adventurous and created a great interest and desire for me to learn about parachute jumps and skydiving. But we did not have an opportunity,” Vidhanage added. However, she was determined to apply for such a course as soon as the Sri Lanka Army gave the green light. By early September, nominations were called for from battalions of the Women’s Corp.

From left: Corporal Kalyani Kahawala, Captain Samangie Vidhanage and Corporal Niroshani Hemanthi

As the trio explained, their ultimate courage was tested at every point of the training course. “This hard training really makes a paratrooper understand the gravity of the work. One must have courage beyond normal levels since there will be no one to save a parachutist’s life when he/she falls from the sky,” she said.

In the selection criteria jumping from a height of 30 metres into water is compulsory and shows how confident the trainee-to-be is with heights. “We have done this water jump from 40 metres during our training as Physical Training Instructors,” Corporals Kahawala and Niroshani, both hailing from Dehiaththakandiya, said explaining their experience. “Our trainers believed we would definitely face these challenges as we also served in operational areas though we are women soldiers, and are not alien to hardships,” Corporal Kahawala said.

Offensives

Though women soldiers are not directly involved with offensives, it is they who release their male counterparts to go forward while taking the responsibility of maintaining security in liberated areas and carrying out civil affairs including looking into the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons apart from conventional office work entrusted to them. These women are mentally and physically fit for long hours of strenuous work under arduous situations. The Corporals are officially Physical Training Instructors and have been in the job for 10 years.

“It was during the last stages of the war that I was deployed in Weli Oya to provide welfare facilities for the people escaping from uncleared areas,” Kahawala said. She is an active member of the Sri Lanka Army Badminton Pool and bagged the Defence Services Games Championship in 2008.

“I came to Colombo for a badminton tournament in October and my Battalion Commanding Officer informed me about the physical test to select women paratroopers and told me to participate as some of those who applied have failed to attend the test. So I went for the test and even now I think the chance to undergo this training is one of those miraculous happenings in my life,” she said with overwhelming happiness.

Corporal Niroshani received the news of applications being called while she was on duty in Vakarai, Batticaloa. Going through a rigorous selection criteria, Niroshani was selected for the training course and was thrilled to find her batchmate Kahawala was also in it. The trio were training and working with more strong officers and soldiers.

“During the first two weeks we had to undergo extensive ground training and that was the hardest part. We had to be on par with Commando soldiers, yet we were not ready to give up,” Niroshani said, reiterating the great support they received from the trainers and their colleagues.

“During my second jump, the gadget which fixes my helmet broke while I was getting on to the Y 12 aircraft and it really shook my nerves. One of our trainers quickly brought a new helmet for me and my team started teasing me and making me laugh, to take away the stress. We were a wonderful team,” she said, recalling one of her unforgettable moments.

Kahawala was known as the one who gets thrown away further than the others and the last to land because of her light weight, she said giving a hearty laugh.

“The night jump is the most daring experience,” Captain Vidhanage said. For this Basic Parachute Training Course, a paratrooper has to complete five jumps including a night jump carried out in complete darkness where the paratrooper just believes in his/her senses. “We conducted the jump around nine in the night. The lights were switched off in the aircraft and we had to be extremely careful and thorough with the skills we had learned,” the Captain added.

“I landed in a hole filled with muddy water in a corner of the ground,” Corporal Kahawala said. A fun-filled exciting experience for the trio!Captain Vidhanage explained how she got entangled in a tree during one of her landings. “The weather can change while we go for our jumps from the predictions we receive before we get in the flight. On this day, the wind started blowing harder and we were pulling our risers (a gadget of the parachute) to manoeuvre ourselves to the correct landing spot. All in vain. Many of us were hanging on from trees!,” she said.

The three were supported by many as everyone knew they were making a marked change in the history of the Army. “Our superiors, especially our Commandant of the Training School Lt. Col. Jayantha Balasooriya always reminded us how important our success is for the Army. They always stressed that the entire Army is looking at us and insisted that we must thrive. This was the massive boost behind our every successful leap,” the Captain said.

Lieutenant Colonel Jayantha Balasooriya is the present Commandant of the Commando Training School of the Sri Lanka Army, situated in Kuda Oya. In fact, Commandos were the pioneers in parachute jumping in Sri Lankan Security services.

“It was in 1979 that the first team of parachutists was trained from the Sri Lanka Army. Colonel S.D. Pieris, whom we consider as the father of Commandos, with 23 others were sent to the esteemed Agra Parachute Training School in India for special training,” Lt. Col. Balasooriya said, explaining the inception of the Army’s para-troopers.

The first parachute display took place October 10, 1980 at Ratmalana. And later in 1990, with the assistance of parachute jump instructors from Pakistan, parachute jumping was started for Commandos at their training school which was then in Ganemulla, Kadawatha. At the completion of 49 Basic Parachute Training Courses, the school was shifted to Kuda Oya in Ampara. Training was conducted since Course No.51 at Kuda Oya.

Sky Divers

Maj.Gen. A.D.G.A. Jayawardane pinning the badge on Capt. Vidhanage at the passing out parade. Commandant of the Commando Training School Lt. Col .Jayantha Balasooriya looks on.

The Commando para troopers never stopped becoming basic parachutists. These courageous men advanced step by step to become professional skydivers.

“The basic course trains a person for a direct fall and in skydiving we use the free fall. The Parachutes used are different. For direct fall we use the round canopy typeparachute and for the free fall it is the square canopy type that is used,” he explained the technical side of the colourful jumps.

“As our fall is against the wind we always take the weather and climate report from the Meteorology Department before every jump,” he said.

As he explained, the first Sky Diver trained abroad (USA) was Major M.G. Chandrasena who passed out as a parachutist in 1983. Many Commandos received parachute jumping training conducted in different countries over the years, and in 1997, while Major General Samantha Sooriyabandara (then Lt.Col.) was the head of the Training School, skydiving started as an experiment. It was a success.Major Nilantha Sirimanne gets the honour of becoming first skydiver trained in Sri Lanka. Major Sirimanne was Killed In Action during Operation Jayasikuru and was posthomously prrmoted to Lt.Col. In 1998, Col. Priyantha Senaratne (then Major), Lt. Col. Jayantha Balasooriya (then Major), Major Janaka Witharana(Rtd.) and Sergeant Weerasinghe (Rtd.) were inducted to the first skydiver course.

Basic paratroopers jump from a 1000 feet height while free fallers (skydivers) jump from 3000 feet and above. So far, 93 Army Commandos have passed out as skydivers.

It was during Course No. 52 on Basic Parachute Training, that started in November 2, 2009 that women officers and other ranks started participating. “It was a significant moment not only for us Commandos, but for the entire Army. It is a special event in the history of the country as well,” Lt.Col. Balasooriya said.“This program will continue and parachute training will be open for Women’s Corp officers from now on,” he said.

The era of defining margins and limits for women seems to be over now. It is most wonderful to realise that every society is now ready to accept the fact that what matters for success is not the gender, but the person’s fitness, will and courage. A greater thought that would advance a country in leaps and bounds.