Born in Chalkis in 1882, Dimitrios Katheniotis entered the Hellenic Army Academy in 1901 and graduated on 8 July 1904, as an artillery second lieutenant.

[3] In September 1916, he joined the Venizelist Movement of National Defence in Thessaloniki, which in opposition to the royal government in Athens entered World War I on the side of the Entente.

[2][3] In 1916–17, he served as chief of staff to the newly raised Archipelago Division, being promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1917.

In 1918, he was appointed as the liaison between the Greek Army's staff service and the Allied commander-in-chief in the Macedonian front, French general Adolphe Guillaumat.

[3] Following the disastrous defeat of the Greek army in Anatolia by the Turkish nationalist forces in August 1922 and the subsequent outbreak of a military revolt, he was recalled to active service by the new revolutionary government, and appointed as CO of the Adrianople Division and then of the 11th Infantry Division.