General Shavendra Silva, WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP (, ) is a Sri Lanka Army officer. He is the Chief of Defence Staff and former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, His prior appointments include, Chief of Staff of the army, Adjutant General and Director of Operations of the Army. During the Sri Lankan civil war he gained fame as the General Officer Commanding of the elite 58 Division. He had also served as the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Headquarters. Early life and education Shavendra Silva was born on 22 June 1964 in Matale, the son of Creasy de Silva, former Chairman, Sri Lanka Transport Board and Sumana Bandu Silva, an English teacher. He had three siblings that included Lakshman de Silva who became CEO of the HDFC Bank and Ajantha de Silva, who is a retired Air Vice-Marshal. He was educated at Vijaya College, Matale; St Thomas' College, Matale and St Joseph's College, Anuradhapura. He became the head prefect, captained the first XI cricket team, was a sergeant of the cadet platoon and became the band leader of the western band. Early military career He joined the Sri Lanka Army on 5 March 1984 through its 19th Officer Cadet Intake (long course) at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa. On completion of his basic officer training, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Gajaba Regiment on 16 November 1985 as one of the first officers to be commissioned directly into the newly formed infantry regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Vijaya Wimalaratne. Attached to the 1st Battalion, Gajaba Regiment (1st Gajaba), he was made platoon commander in the Special Service Group that later developed into the Rapid Deployment Force a precursor to the Special Forces Regiment. He later transferred to the Commando Regiment following commando training. In 1987, he took part in the Operation Liberation in Vadamarachi as the adjutant of the 1st Gajaba under the command of Major Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He was wounded in the operation and later served as the head of the Presidential Security Army Unit at the President's House, Colombo. In 1989, Captain Silva served as a company commander in the 1st Gajaba under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa when it was deployed to the Matale District at the height of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection undertaking counter insurgency operations in the district. He was thereafter an