His Excellency the President, minister of Defence and Commander in Chief of the Armed forces of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena urged those starting their careers in the Sri Lanka Air Force to give their best to the nation and assured them that he and the state would do their part to empower them, when he addressed the Commissioning and Passing Out Parade at the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy today (13 January 2017).
 
He was the Chief Guest when 40 Officers from the No 56th Intake of Officer Cadets and No 08th Lady Officer Cadets Intake along with 621 Airmen and Airwomen of the 162nd   Regular Airmen Recruit Course and No 32nd Regular Airwomen Recruit Course passed out from the SLAF Academy China Bay during the morning hours of 13 January 2017. Also on this occasion 04 Pilot Officers of No.84 flight cadet course received their Flying Brevets from the His Excellency the President Maithripala Sirisena. The Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Eng. Karunasena Hettiarachchi, Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy, the Board of Management of the SLAF, Commandant of the SLAF Academy China Bay Air Vice Marshal PDKT Jayasinghe and senior officers of the SL Army, SL Navy, and SL Police of Trincomalee District also attended the event. The Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy received the Chief Guest on arrival.

The Officer Cadets/Lady Officer Cadets have successfully completed 3 years of rigorous training while the Airmen/Airwomen followed a 20 week Basic Combat Training programme. The Parade, which was commanded by the Commanding Officer of Ground Training Wing, Group Captain HTH Dharmadasa, was followed by an Aerobatic display of PT6 Aircraft, flown by Qualified Flying Instructors (QFIs) of No.1 Flying Training Wing, Commanded by Wing CommanderTWKDC Dias. This was followed by a Band display, Drill display by SLAF Colour Wing, Unarmed Combat display, Parachute display, and a Camp Attack Display.