“Whoever controls the Indian Ocean dominates Asia. This ocean is the key to the seven seas in the twenty-first century, the fate of the world will be decided in these waters.”Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer MahanINTRODUCTION1. Without strong naval power, the island nation is facing huge problems in the current situation across the world. “Sri Lanka's strategic maritime location, in the lap of the Indian Ocean and at the confluence of several critical shipping lanes, gives it great importance in not only Indian Ocean, but also global maritime affairs. The oceans have always been at the center of life in Sri Lanka.” The naval force is the first unit in the country to monitor sea safety since naval activities began. Being a small island, the Sri Lanka Navy has many responsibilities in caring for the motherland based on the analysis of situations in the world.2. Until 2009, the Sri Lanka Navy faced 30 years of asymmetric warfare with the LTTE forcing it to change operational philosophy as the threat is further from land which invariably forces it to adopt the small boat concept and, due to this, the Sri Lanka Navy today possesses over 50 fast attack craft and a large number of IPCs and arrow boats. In contrast, over the past thirty years the Navy has acquired only 03 OPVs to date. However, the Sri Lanka Navy's personnel has been drastically improved and now stands at 55,000 personnel, on par with other navies in the region and used primarily for the land-based rather than maritime role. The main objective of the Navy is efficient and effective maritime surveillance and the guarantee of maritime security by carrying out counter-operations...... middle of the sheet...... Student Officer20 14 May 12th Junior Course for the General Staff of the MarinaWord count: 3555 wordsBIBLIOGRAPHYBooks1. Mahinda Chinthana 2010, Vision for the future.2. Role of Commodore Mohamed Anwar of the minor navies, 1999.p.114.3. Silent Blue Diamond, Sri Lanka Navy.4. Anwar, op cit.Documents1. President Theodore Roosevelt, Second Annual Message to Congress, December 2, 1902.2. United States Navy, United States Naval Doctrine Publication 1,2010.3. Trinco Dialogue, 07 January 2014. Newspapers1. Sunday Observer, 19 July 2009.2. Sunday Observer, 16 January 2011.3. Sunday Observer, 12 June 2011. Website1. www.navy.lk.2. www.defence.lk.3. www.Janadhipathi.com.4. www. Adaderana.lk.5. www. Un.org.