Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Eng. Karunasena Hettiarachchi was also present at the occasion.

The 9th Course includes 98 Sri Lankan tri services officers one civil service officer, l5 officers representing foreign countries Oman, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda and Uganda received their Passed Staff College (psc) Degree parchment during the ceremony.

The Golden Pen Award for the best research paper was awarded to Lieutenant Commander SK Vidanage. The Golden Owl Award for the most outstanding performance of Course No 9 was awarded to (ARMY WING) Major LLIS Lokuliyanage (NAVY WING) Commander (H) RML Rathnathilake and (AIR WING) Wing Commander WUS De Silva.

The most outstanding foreign student award was presented to (Army Wing) Major KM Mehedi Hasan of Bangladesh and (Air Force Wing) Squadron Leader MD Omar Karim of Bangladesh.

Speaking at the occasion State Minister Wijewardene congratulated all the graduate officers for their achievements and dedication shown during one of the toughest courses in the military establishment.

Further speaking he stated that, the nation is thankful to the tri forces for the struggle that they put up in defence of the nation. He added that, with the defeat of terrorism a prosperous and a bright future had dawned on the country.

He also said that, as the country is on a steady path towards peace, harmony and development the government will not compromise the security of the country at any cost.

The Army Command and Staff College (ACSC) the precursor to the DSCSC was established in 1998. In January 2007 it was transformed into the DSCSC and the first course began with 36 tri forces officers. So far a total of 882 Staff Qualified Officers successfully completed the DSCSC course.

State Secretary of Defence Mr. APG Kithsiri, Ministry officials, Chief of Defence Staff, tri forces commanders, foreign delegates, DSCSC staff and a large number of distinguished invitees were present at the occasion.