Page 33 - MDSL Final

THE HUMAN FACTOR
Its character is that of a professional fighting force with rich naval
traditions and a proud maritime history. Our ethos are the enduring spirit
derived from our people’s loyalty to their ship, unit or team sustained by
high professional standards and strong leadership, that gives us courage
in adversary and the determination to fight and win. This ethos might
also be summarised as the drive to achieve professional mastery at
sea. Essentially, the SLN’s professional mastery, together with that of
the other two sister Services namely Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Air
Force is the critical foundation on which all joint operations are based.
Therefore equally, it is incumbent on members of SLN to understand the
ethos of land and air forces that may fight with a maritime force.

SLN is a fighting force with a desirable and sound record of operational
success during both peace and war. While capable platforms, weapons
and sensors are significant, success mainly depends on the moral
component and the ethos that underpins naval personnel will to fight
and win.

SLN also needs to balance the maintenance of its combat preparedness
with the many essential and often conflicting, requirements of
enlistment and retention, education and training, peacetime operations
and activities, sustainability and future capability development. The
successful fulfilment of every one of these elements depends absolutely
upon, comprehensive and thoroughly understood ‘Maritime Doctrine of
Sri Lanka’.

People

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by
men. It is the spirit of the man who follow and of the man
who leads, that gain, victory.”

General George Patton

It is not merely the ships and craft, weaponry onboard and technology
which give the SLN its capability, but the way that these elements
are employed. It is therefore naval personnel who generate the real

To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea 15