Kagusthan Ariaratnam is a former child soldier of the Tamil Tigers turned defense analyst and consultant with over 25 years of experience. From 1990 to 2010, he worked with several international intelligence agencies in a substantial capacity. In 1992, Ariaratnam was appointed as an intelligence officer of Tigers’ Military Intelligence Service. Between 1992 and 1995, he oversaw intelligence for the Sea Tigers and the Air Tigers - the Tamil Tigers’ rudimentary naval and air wings. As Ariaratnam had fought both as an insurgent during the Sri Lankan civil war with the Tamil Tigers and later against the insurgents as a military intelligence analyst with the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) of Sri Lanka, he possesses unique knowledge of the contemporary counterintelligence, counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism operations. Ariaratnam was code-named “05” by the DMI; hence this project was named thereafter. For advancing “Global War on Terrorism,” Ariaratnam received the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies Award in October 2003.