About Me

{I'm Commander Milinda Herath. I joined Intake 21 of General Sir John Kotealawala Defence University (KDU) on 05th October 2003 and completed the BSc (Defence Studies) in Marine Engineering degree by securing second class upper division in the year 2007. Thereafter, I followed Midshipman/ sea training at Naval Dockyard, Trincomalee and on completion, I was appointed as a training Engineer Officer onboard ship 'Jetliner' which was performing transportation of over 3000 military personnel from Trincomalee to Kankasanthurai and vice versa. Then, I followed Marine Engineering Specialisation in India from January 2008 to July 2009. In that, I followed several modules such as Advanced Marine Engineering & Nuclear Biological & Chemical Defence at the Center of Marine Engineering Technology in Indian Naval Ship Shivaji, Management/ staff duties at Indian Naval Ship Hamla, 06 months Engine Room Watch Keeping onboard Indian Naval Ship Tir, Marine Propulsion Control Technology Course at Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (Deemed University) Pune and Operational level Engine Room Simulator Course at Lal Bahadur Shastri College of Advanced Maritime Studies & Research at Mumbai. On completion, I held several appointments as a Junior Marine Engineer/Assistant Engineer Officer onboard ships A 521 and SLNS Jayesagara/ Lecturer at the Department of Marine Engineering in Kotelawala Defence University while holding the rank of Lieutenant till year 2014. Then, I was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the year 2014 and I held several Senior Marine Engineer appointments/ Engineer officer as SLNS Sayura and Staff appointments at Navy Headquarters. During that period I completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Materials Science at the University of Moratuwa and achieved psc (pass staff college) with MSc in Defence & Strategic Studies from KDU. I was then got promoted to the rank of Commander in year 2022 and held my last appointment in SLN as Manger Naval Design (Naval Architecture) attached to Directorate of Naval Design at SLNS Thakshila. Then I got retired on completion 20 years service on 05 Nov 2023. During my tenure in Sri Lanka Navy, I have followed several foreign trainings such as Training on Marine Paints in Malaysia, Training on MTU engines fitted on board Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels in Germany, attended Ship Visits to Bangladesh & Myanmar and represented as a member of Military Delegation to India during the Defence Services Command & Staff College visit. I acquired professional memberships such as CEng (India) in Marine Engineering, Member (Institution of Engineers India), Associate Member (Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka), Associated Engineer (Engineering Council Sri Lanka), Associated Member (College of Military Engineering & Technology Sri Lanka) and Associate Member (Royal Institution of Naval Architects UK).}