Nihal Hapuarachchi

Nihal Hapuarachchi
Nihal Hapuarachchi
Service/branch	Sri Lanka Army
Years of service	1982 -
Rank	Brigadier
Unit	Sri Lanka Engineers
Commands held	Director Recruitment, Sri Lanka Army,; Brigade Commander 51-3 Brigade,; Commandant School of Military Engineering Brigade
Battles/wars	Sri Lankan Civil War,; Insurrection 1987-89
Awards	Rana Sura Padakkama

Brigadier H. A. Nihal Hapuarachchi, RSP, psc, SLE is a Sri Lankan Army officer and a military engineer, who is the current military spokesman, former Brigade Commander, 51-3 Brigade and Commandant, School of Military Engineering. He was also the former Director Recruitment^[1]

Educated at the Royal College, Colombo, he captained the college volleyball team and won colours for three sports in 1978. He joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1982 as Officer Cadet, following basic training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy, where he won the President's Medal; he was commissioned in to the Sri Lanka Engineers in as a Second Lieutenant. Hapuarachchi is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii and holds a MBA from the University of Rajarata. He has undergone training at the College of Military Engineering, Pune, Military College of Engineering, Risalpur and at the Indian College of Defence Management.

During his military service he had served as commanding officer of the 7th Field Engineer Regiment SLE, Chief Instructor at the Sri Lanka Military Academy as well as serving as a staff officer at the former Joint Operational Command, Volunteer Force Headquarters and as Brigadier, general staff at Security Forces Headquarters – Wanni during the height of the Sri Lankan civil war. Prior to taking up duties as the military spokesman he was the brigadier coordinating of the Defence Services Command and Staff College.

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