Strategic leadership exercised by the defence forces of Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) is considered as one of the most mortal and dangerous pandemics humans had come across in centuries. Having gone through two waves of the Covid-19, Sri Lankan government took every necessary step in preventing and eliminating the deadly virus in order to ensure a safer country for the citizens. The Defence forces of Sri Lanka have taken the lead in supporting the governments’ battle against Covid-19 and have extended a tremendous support to the Health sector and Public at large. The objectives of this study is to identify the main areas of strategic leadership exercised by the defence forces of Sri Lanka during the battle against Covid-19, to analyse the impact of the contribution made by the defence forces on Covid-19 and to understand whether external support moderates the strategic leadership exercised by the defence forces on Covid-19. The study was conducted on a qualitative basis with the research material obtained mostly from secondary data which included government reports and statistics, information from international websites, digital, print and social media reports. Face to face interviews were conducted with key personnel of the defence forces in order to clarify confidential information and ensure the accurateness of the data. It was identified that strategic leadership exercised by the defence forces include the areas such as planning and organisation, control and coordination, innovation and creation as well as prevention and notification. Key contributions made by Sri Lanka Army (Army), Sri Lanka Navy (Navy) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) were identified. The support extended by the general public or the lack of it, along with the contribution from the health sector moderated the effort of the defence forces. It was concluded that the impact of Covid-19 on Sri Lanka was minimised as a result of the strategic leadership exercised by the defence forces.