 In 1974, then commander of the army, Sepala Attygalle was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and ever since then all serving commanders of the army held the rank of Lieutenant General, customarily promoted to the rank on appointment to the post of commander of the army.Since 1991, it became customary for all commanders of the army to be promoted to the rank of General on the final day of service if they were retiring or appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff.In 2007, two former commanders of the army were also promoted to the rank of General.