Having joined the Ceylon Army on July 20, 1971, with intake 5A at the height of the 1971 JVP insurrection, receiving his basic training at the Army Tranining Center in Diyatalawa. Completing his training as the second in the order of merit, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and posted to the 1st Battalion of the Gemunu Watch on October 14, 1972. He was promoted to lieutenant on July 24, 1974; captain on July 24, 1977, and major on June 1, 1982. This included a stint as the first aide-de-camp to Major General Tissa Weeratunga and active service in the norther province with the Gemunu Watch with the on set of the Sri Lankan Civil War, participating in the Vadamarachchi Operation in 1987.