Chief of the Defence Staff (Sri Lanka)

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Chief of the Defence Staff
Incumbent General Shavendra Silva WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP since 1 June 2022
Sri Lanka Armed Forces
Member of	National Security Council
Reports to	President of Sri Lanka Minister of Defence
Seat	Office of the Chief of Defence Staff, Block No. 5, BMICH, Bauddhaloka mawatha, Colombo 7
Appointer	The President
Term length	Term of two years. An officer serving as the CDS shall be eligible to be re-appointed for one more term of two years. In a time of emergency, the President may re- appoint the officer serving as the CDS for any number of such terms of office.
Constituting instrument	Chief of Defence Staff Act, No. 35 of 2009
Formation	11 February 1985; 39 years ago (1985-02-11) as General Officer Commanding, Joint Operations Command
First holder	General Tissa Weeratunga (as GOC-JOC)
Website	Official website

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the most senior appointment in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, and the highest-ranking military officer in service, outranking the heads of each service branch.^[1] The CDS does not, however, have operational command authority over service branches, but rather oversees inter-service co-operation and develops and implements the joint operations doctrine of the Sri Lankan armed forces.^[2] Coordination of inter-service joint operations are handled by the Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff, formally known as the Joint Operations Headquarters.

The CDS is the Chairman of a Committee made up of service commanders and is a member of the National Security Council.

It's subordinate command is known as the Overall Operational Command.