Туркестанский военный округ
Kornilov returned to St. Petersburg to attend the Mykolayiv General Staff Academy and graduated as a captain in 1897. Again refusing a posting at St. Peterburg, he returned to the Turkestan Military District, where he resumed his duties as a military intelligence officer. Among his missions at this post was an attempt at traveling incognito to British India in 1904, though he was quickly discovered and subsequently kept under close surveillance.