Following the escalation of the Croatian War of Independence, he returned to his homeland and joined the Croatian National Guard in 1991. He was a military commanding officer in Lika, but after the Fall of Vukovar in November 1991, he was moved to Tomislavgrad, where he joined Battalion "Zrinski". He was severely wounded around the heart in the Battle of Kupres. His soldiers transported him from Bugojno to Franciscan monastery in Prozor-Rama. The next two months he spent in a Split hospital but he returned to the Kupres front. He was known as a very strict commander demanding a high level of discipline.