In June 1915, shortly after completing his studies, Pântea was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, and relocated to Kiev, where he attended a Junker School. He was again in Odessa, where Bessarabian-born officer Emanoil Catelli was giving standard Romanian language classes to Russian officers, and became close friends with his new teacher. (Some sources represent Pântea as a graduate of Odessa University.) Upon graduation from the Junker School, the young "Podporuchik" was dispatched to the Romanian front, to function as a translator between the Russian Ninth Army and their colleagues in the Romanian Land Forces. He also fought with valor during battles against the German Army, and twice received the Order of St. George.