caption branch commands allegiance awards battles rank image article_title name
admiral wasantha karannagoda 25px sri lanka navy commander president on national security . of the sri lankan navy advisor to the sri lanka sri lanka rana seva padakkama sura padakkama , vishista seva vibhushanaya , uttama sri lankan civil war admiral 300px wasantha karannagoda
 wasantha karannagoda
wasantha karannagoda

admiral wasantha karannagoda rsp , vsv , usp , mba , msc , ndc , psc , diss , mrin , mni , sln was the commander of the sri lankan navy and current sri lankan ambassador to japan .
before serving as the commander of the navy he commanded four operational naval commands on seven occasions .
he has the distinction of being the only officer to be considered to the highest seating of the commander of the navy straight from a naval area command .
when he retired from his post on 15 july 2009 , he was made the advisor to the president on national security .
after assuming command of the navy , he changed the `` modus operandi '' of sri lankan navy operations by increasing deep sea operations against ltte arms .
this ensured the success of naval operations against the ltte with the destruction of over eight ltte ships within a year .
he possesses a masters in business administration as well as in defence studies .
he is also a member of the royal institute of navigation and the nautical institute of the united kingdom .
admiral karannagoda is a product of ananda college , colombo .
during his naval carrier he has held many senior commands , including four operational naval commands on seven occasions -- northern , eastern and western commands twice each and north central once , for a total period spanning six years , first ever director general -lrb- operations -rrb- at naval headquarters , director naval projects and plans , director naval personnel and training , commandant of the naval & maritime academy , deputy area commander -lrb- west -rrb- , deputy area commander -lrb- north -rrb- and deputy area commander -lrb- east -rrb- , deputy area commander -lrb- south -rrb- .
as a navigator , he has served many years at sea .
his sea career terminated in 1992 on board slns `` wickrama '' -lrb- a sri lankan navy ship -rrb- with the abdication of command and duties as the commander of the 7th surveillance command squadron .
in the early 1980s he had served as flag lieutenant for admiral basil gunasekara , the then commander of the navy .
during his years in the navy he was awarded the rana sura padakkama medal , the vishista seva vibhushanaya , the uttama seva padakkama service medals and several other service and campaign medals including the sri lanka armed services long service medal , north and east operations medal , purna bhumi padakkama , riviresa campaign services medal , republic of sri lanka armed services medal , sri lanka navy 50th anniversary medal , president 's inauguration medal and the 50th independence anniversary commemoration medal .
he is an alumnus of the asia-pacific center for security studies , hawaii , the near east-south asia center for strategic studies at the national defense university in washington d.c. , the royal naval staff college in the united kingdom , and the national defence college of pakistan .
after the conclusion of eelam war iv and the demise of the ltte , he was awarded the rank of admiral by the president of sri lanka , his excellency mahinda rajapakse , in recognition of his contribution during the campaign .
he was made the advisor to the president on national security .
