[2] He left his village and went to Athens, where, on 6 December 1909, he joined the Hellenic Army as a simple trooper in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

[2] In 1917 he was promoted to captain, but as an avowed monarchist, was suspended from the army for 6 months after the ousting of King Constantine I during the National Schism.

In the spring of 1941, Stanotas with the Cavalry Division fought against the invading Germans in West Macedonia, next to the rest of the Allied Forces.

In 1943, he escaped from occupied Greece and through Turkey and Lebanon, he arrived in Cairo, where he joined the Greek Armed Forces in exile.

In 1947, when Greece was in the middle of the Greek Civil War, he was recalled to duty and was appointed as Commanding General of the Peloponnese.

His experience allowed him to organize successful sweep operations and to destroy the main strongholds of the Communist led Democratic Army of Greece there.