He joined the Sri Lanka Air Force in 1988 with the Officer Cadet Intake 19 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the General Duties Pilot Branch in 1990. Having completed his basic combat and flying training, he completed the SLAF's Basic and Advanced Helicopter Training Courses. He commenced his lying duties as an operational pilot flying
Bell 212 and
Bell 412 helicopters in the
No. 4 Squadron. In 2000, he transferred to the
No 9 Attack Helicopter Squadron at
SLAF Hingurakgoda as its Second in Command and served as its Commanding Officer from December 2006 to September 2009, during the last phased of the
Sri Lankan Civil War. Logging over 7000 flying hours as an Operations/ VIP and Attack Helicopter Pilot, including
combat sorties. Thuyacontha went on to serve as Base Commander,
SLAF Anuradhapura; Commandant,
Sri Lanka Air Force Academy, China Bay; Base Commander,
SLAF Katunayake; the first Air Commander, Southern Air Command and Director Training of the Sri Lanka Air Force. He had also served as the
Defence Adviser to the
High Commission of Sri Lanka in Islamabad, Pakistan and Chief Instructor of the
Defence Services Command and Staff College in 2014. He retired from the SLAF in 2021. Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha has been awarded the gallantry medals
Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya,
Rana Wickrama Padakkama (three times),
Rana Sura Padakkama (two times) and the service medal
Uttama Seva Padakkama. He is a graduate of the
PLA National Defense University, having gained a Master of Military Science, and a graduate of the
Defence Services Command and Staff College having gained a
MSc in Defence Management. ==Political career==