In 1935, he was severely injured during operations to suppress the Sakdal Uprising in Laguna, and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1936.

That same year, he attended Officer School in Fort Benning, Georgia and became an ROTC instructor at the University of the Philippines.

As a Major, Balao served as Donald Blackburn's Inspector General for his guerrilla force.

[1] Following the war, Balao, then a Colonel, turned his military efforts towards quelling the Hukbalahap forces of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Luzon.

In 1953, he became a brigadier general and in 1954 was appointed Vice Chief of Staff before, in 1956, assuming the office of Secretary of National Defense.