He was selected for officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and graduate in 1956 at the top of his batch.
In May - June 1987, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces launched the Vadamarachchi Operation to defeat the LTTE in Jaffna.
At the highlight of the operation, India intervened to pressure the Sri Lanka Government to stop the offensive.
The Indian government supported a flotilla of boats that sailed from Tamil Nadu, claiming to bring relief supplies, which the Sri Lankan Navy forced to turn back.
India then responded with an air drop of 22 tons of humanitarian relief supplies violating Sri Lankan sovereign airspace with Operation Poomalai.