After finishing school, he enrolled in the Hellenic Army Academy and graduated on 11 July 1901 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1908 and captain in 1911. He fought in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 as company and battalion commander, and was wounded at the Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas. After the wars he was attached as aide de camp to the chiefs of the French military mission to Greece, generals Joseph-Paul Eydoux and Étienne de Villaret, and was promoted to Major (1914).