Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda last week said "we are a better prepared Army today to face any eventuality".

He was addressing the latest intake of Officers and men and the parents of 114 officer cadets who passed out at the Commissioning Parade at the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa on Saturday.

Whether it is in war or peace, the army should be well prepared at all times to face any threat to the country, he said. To meet this requirement all officers and men should be well trained and kept prepared. It is the responsibility of the young officers to provide leadership and train those under their command to make ours a professional Army, he said.

A memorable event was that two brothers passed out on successive days as commissioned officers of the Sri Lanka Air Force and the Sri Lanka Army. They are Pilot Officer Vindika Dissanayake an old boy of Chandrajothi Maha Vidyalaya , Yakkala while Vindana Dissanayake an old boy of Sangabodhi Maha Vidyalaya , Nittambuwa who passed out as Second Lieutenant in the army. Their elder brother Viraj Dissanayake also an old boy of Chandrajothi Maha Vidyalaya is already serving as a Lieutenant in the army.

The Cane of Honour for the best foreign officer cadet receiving the stipulated average was awarded to P/U/O Mohamad Inayath of the Maldives from the intake 56B while the Sword of Honour for the best allround officer cadet was awarded to cadet L/Cpl. A. M. U.Samarakoon of intake 40 , Cadet Cpl. K. K. D. S. Lankathilake of Intake 56 B and Bn/U/O C. D. Liyanage.