Sri Lanka Air Force Women's Wing
| SLAF Women's Wing | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1987 - present |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Allegiance | Sri Lanka |
| Branch | Sri Lanka Air Force |
| Commanders | |
| Commanding Officer | - |
| Notable commanders | Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera |
The Sri Lanka Air Force Women's Wing is an organization of the Sri Lanka Air Force which serves as the record office of female officers and airwomen, it also makes their promotional lists, issues their identity cards, makes annual assessments (performance reports), ensures welfare and also arranges annual meetings and seminars.[1][2][3] The wing was formed on 3 September 1987 and the first commanding officer of this wing was Air Commodore D.S.G. Vithana, at that time the wing office was situated in Colombo.[1]
In the Sri Lanka Air Force, women are not trained separately, they are trained together with men.[4] An airwoman cannot serve more than 15 years in the Sri Lanka Air Force.[5]
Commanding Officers of SLAF Women's Wing include:
- Air Vice Marshal G. D. Perera (? – 1 August 2002)[6]
- Group Captain M. H. Karannagoda (2 August 2002 – ?)[6]
History about the women of the Sri Lanka Air Force
In 1971, four women joined as pilot officers into the Sri Lanka Air Force who were trained in SLAF Katunayake for some weeks, this was the first time in the history of the Sri Lanka Air Force that women wore air force uniforms.[7] The women were posted in air force headquarters. In January 1983, the first batch of airwomen were recruited.[8] First female firefighting unit of the air force was created in 1997 with 30 airwomen firefighters.[3] These airwomen retired after 15 years in 2012.[9] In 2008, seven airwomen completed paratroopers course.[10] In 2019, two women officers and seven airwomen became members of the Special Airborne Force.[11] Also in the same year one female officer and one airwoman were trained in Britain's Army School of Ceremonial.[12] In 1998 during the Sri Lankan civil war, the Sri Lanka Air Force took decision to recruit women for the pilots' branch, 800 women applied for 33 vacancies,[13] however the recruitment was later cancelled. In 2020 for the first time, two women were commissioned as pilots from the Air Force Academy, China Bay.[14] In 2023, three women were air commodores in the Sri Lanka Air Force, among them two were directors in the air force headquarters.[15]
References
- ^ a b "Strengthening Infrastructure". airforce.lk. Archived from the original on 14 June 2025.
- ^ "W@W - Military Aviators Pavithra & Rangana". life.lk. 5 January 2021. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Fiery females". sundaytimes.lk. 3 October 1999. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008.
- ^ "SLAF holds passing out parade at China Bay". dailynews.lk. 14 January 2019.
- ^ "Reduction of retirement benefit: Over 300 ex-SLAF officers complain to CA". dailymirror.lk. 29 July 2018. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019.
- ^ a b "2002 Sri Lanka Air Force Annual Performance Report" (PDF). Parliament of Sri Lanka. p. 6.
- ^ "Life in the Air force; A chat with one of the first women to join the SLAF". dailymirror.lk. 30 November 2021. Archived from the original on 14 April 2025.
- ^ "Sri Lanka Air Force marks 71st Anniversary today". dailynews.lk. 2 March 2022.
- ^ Retirement of airwomen firefighters - Sri Lanka Air Force, 30 May 2012
- ^ "She soared to new heights". sundaytimes.lk. 17 February 2008. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014.
- ^ "A first in SLAF history: Women graduate in Special Airborne Force". dailynews.lk. 24 January 2019.
- ^ "First SL women graduate from army school of ceremonial in UK". dailymirror.lk. 18 January 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019.
- ^ Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada, "Sri Lanka: Organization and structure of the Sri Lankan Airforce including ranks, units, squadrons and the duties assigned to different personnel; location of squadrons and departments", UNHCR Refworld, Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 14 March 2001.
- ^ "Air Force commissions its first female pilots". island.lk. 17 November 2020. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020.
- ^ "Air Force to increase women wing to 30 percent – AF Commander". dailymirror.lk. 1 July 2023. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023.