Every year, there is a virtual scramble for admission to the academy as more than 4,000 men and women apply for the 150 seats for a military education which leads to a university degree and for which the cadets are paid a monthly salary.

Though there seems to be no dearth of people waiting to become military officers in Sri Lanka, the fact is that the quality of the applicants falls far below expected standards.

"Because of the ongoing war and the high casualties, we are finding it difficult to attract the kind of people we want. Many parents are afraid to send their children here," says Academy Commandant Brigadier Gamini Hettiarachchi.

But as the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary on Sunday, the quality of officers is a minor issue compared to morepressing problems. On the one hand is battle fatigue, desertions and a dire shortage of rank and file soldiers. On the other, a well-equipped and committed enemy. Result: a stalemate that threatens to continue indefinitely.

The 120,000-strong army needs at least 20,000 more men if the current war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is to be conducted with any degree of success and at least twice its present number for a decisive victory.

Though the army's territorial gains in the north-east since 1995 -- like the Jaffna peninsula -- have been important successes, soldiers have become tied down to the newly acquired real estate, leaving hardly any manpower for more operations.

The very reason for the army's failure to attract quality officers also accounts for the low recruitment of soldiers: a 900-page book on the history of SLA to be released today contains a roll of honour running into 220 pages.

Just last month, more than 100 soldiers were killed and over 500 wounded in a fiercebattle with the LTTE in north-western Sri Lanka. But the higher the casualties, the more desperate the SLA's commanders become for manpower, making it the only army in the world which welcomes deserters back.

A high level of fatigue has been the inevitable result of the severe manpower crunch. "This is possibly the only army in the world that has deployed its entire fighting strength in combat without a break for the last 15 years, except for the short ceasefires," says General Gerry de Silva, former army commander. Even when the Indian Army was deployed in north-east Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990, the Sri Lankan forces were busy quelling an armed insurrection in the south.

Nevertheless, the last 15 years have seen the Sri Lankan army expand rapidly from a puny force of around 10,000 to its present strength. "It is now a professional force with experience of combat which it did not have before," said General Denis Perera, who retired as army chief in 1981.

After peace talks with the LTTE broke down in1995, leading to a full-scale war, the army was given a virtual carte blanche to equip itself with all the hardware it required.

But the LTTE has been able to match it almost piece for piece, some of it stolen from the army itself in deadly attacks. At times, the Tigers have even been one step ahead of the army in this department.

"The first time they fired an RPG at us, we did not know what it was," says de Silva. The army was similarly puzzled when a tank went up in flames during a recent battle. It is now suspected that it may have fallen to a surface-to-surface missile. The LTTE arsenal is suspected to include such weapons.

For now, the two sides seem to be evenly matched, even though one is a conventional army and the other a guerrilla force. Even though the military stalemate has prompted demands for peace talks to end what is described by many as an "unwinnable war", opinion in the army is divided on this issue.

One section believes that given time, political patience and "technologicalassistance" by friendly countries, they can still bring the LTTE to its knees and to stop now would be "foolish".

"A political solution for the Tamils, by all means, but it has to be a military solution for the LTTE," says one senior officer, warning that a ceasefire at this stage may only lead to a repetition of history, with the LTTE rearming and regrouping to attack with renewed strength. "We are the first to want peace, but if we have to fight again, don't expect magic," the officer adds.

The other, less vocal section believes that negotiations with the LTTE must begin soon. The ultimate decision will be made by politicians and could be greatly influenced by elections, which are due next year. That might make the Sri Lanka army's 51st year perhaps one of its most crucial.