Pavićević was born on 6 May 1872 in Do Pješivački, near Danilovgrad and came from an old Montenegrin military family. He became literate late, so it was not until 1906 that he enrolled in military school. As an officer and supporter of Janko Vukotić, he came into conflict with the Minister of War, Mitar Martinović, which is why he spent almost a year in prison under accusation that he was the opponent of King Nicholas. After the Balkan Wars, he though about joining the Royal Serbian Army, however, he named commander of the border company in Đakovica. During World War I, as part of the Sandžak Army, during 1914 and 1915, he participated in the Serbian-Montenegrin offensive in Bosnia. During the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Montenegro, he was interned in Hungary, where he remained in a prison camp until the end of the war.