From January 1965 till May 1965, Maj. Bhatti served as the General Staff Officer (GSO) of the 17th Punjab Regiment, but was later posted as the commander of the two military companies after the Indian Army's launching the invasion by crossing the international borders in September 1965. Leading the military companies, Maj. Bhatti was initially deployed on the forward positions of the BRB Canal near the Burki area that falls in the vicinity of the Lahore District in Pakistan-side Punjab.