“THE JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP”

Excursions or field visits are always said to be a key way to develop learners’ intelligence, social and emotional quotients in exploring the real world beyond theoretical learning with the ignition of self-interest. The Study Tour organized to journey through former operational areas, regiments, Security Forces Headquarters, training academies of sister services for trainees are perhaps of a lifetime opportunity in their military career. Hence, the results of the outing are in fact of priceless experience which add a great value to officer cadet training and future military affairs. 137 Officer Cadets of Intake 91 including 2 x Foreign Officer Cadets from the Republic of Zambia and 1 x Officer Cadet from the Republic of Maldives undergoing training at Sri Lanka Military Academy Diyatalawa, joined in their annual study tour programmed from 25 July 2022 to 29 July 2022.

On 25th of July 2022 Officer Cadets visited Regimental Centre of MIR, Dambulla and then the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), Trincomalee. During the NMA visit, the officer cadets got the opportunity to have an interactive session with the naval officer cadets and to have several collective engagements; one such activities was the friendly Beach Volleyball match between the teams of the both academies.

The second day of the study tour took the Officer Cadets to the Air Force Academy (AFA) at China Bay. Therein, the youths of the Army and Air Force were given an opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences in their military as well as personal life. Then, they paid their visit to the 4 SLAC where a high volume of knowledge on Armoured Corps was imparted. Afterwards, the visit to the Gajaba Regiment marked the end of the second day with an interactive session with Gajaba Officers sharing their battle experiences of prolonged military campaigns.

The third day gave the officer cadets a pleasant experience of travelling to Jaffna by train. Upon arriving at Jaffna, SF (HQ) Jaffna took over these trainees along the rest of the tour. During their stay at Jaffna, the officer cadets could tour to several significant places in Jaffna peninsula such as SFHQ Jaffna, Nallur Kovil, Point Pedro, Sangupiddi Bridge, Sand Dunes, Jaffna Fort and Jaffna Public Library. The final destination of their tour stopped them at Abimansala-I in Anuradhapura where they mingled with war veterans who lavishly shared their war experiences which brought them a great value to strengthen their military career.

During the study tour, these officer cadets extended their heartiest gratitude and thanks to all senior officers, officers, NCOs for making their study tour informative and fruitful, having presented a token of appreciation at each and every establishment.