Paying a glowing tribute to General Fonseka for spearheading the war against the LTTE, Jayasuriya said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had chosen him over some of his senior colleagues for his role as Security Forces Commander, Vanni during the largest ever offensive conducted in that region. He revealed that about 80,000 officers and men deployed with fighting formations on the Vanni front had been under his command.
The armoured Corps officer said that he was delighted to lead the army in a new era. He said that he never expected to succeed General Fonseka. "I was told last Saturday evening of the President’s decision," he said.
Now that the war against the LTTE was over, their priorities would have to change, he said, emphasising the importance of improving discipline, training and welfare facilities. He said that the army would help the government in its development efforts.
 Army Chief Jagath Jayasuriya yesterday said that in keeping with his predecessor General Sarath Fonse...){kind=link}
General Jayasuriya has addressed the realistic future for any armed force. After main battle is over the Army should be involved in Nation Building. We have some fine young men and women to put in to these tasks. Building roads, bridges, infrastructure and buildings can easily be done with minimum training and bringing in some professionals qualified for these tasks. Even in America the majority of the deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan was made of Volunteers, and regular Army was put in to administer. When the veterans come home, we should find a different use of them in National Development. We should not force these brave soldiers retire, but keep as long as they want, and find a different use. We have a lot to construct and provide security to people and infrastructure. To this effect New Army Commander has expressed his thoughts, and now we have to harness the fruits of his vision.
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