He enlisted with the Siliwangi Division, which was charged with the security of West Java and which was then commanded by Colonel Abdul Haris Nasution.

Once Indonesia's Independence was recognized and KODAM VI/Siliwangi was back in West Java, Dharsono was made a Chief of Staff of the 23rd Brigade.

Returning to Indonesia in 1954, Dharsono became a member of the Army General Staff and in 1956, he was transferred to Magelang to take on the position of Vice Governor of the National Military Academy.

In 1962, Dharsono went abroad again, this time to the United Kingdom as a military attache before returning in 1964 to once again serve as KODAM VI/Siliwangi Chief of Staff.

It was during his second stint as Chief of Staff that the 30 September Movement (G30S) kidnapped 6 prominent Generals including Army Commander Ahmad Yani.

Through unofficial channels, Dharsono told Suharto that he could use Siliwangi's Battalion 328 (Which was in Jakarta for the ABRI Day celebrations) against the G30S Movement.

In promoting this approach, Dharsono was supported by Kemal Idris and Sarwo Edhie Wibowo and the three of them constituted a faction that was dubbed as "New Order Radicals".

Finally in early 1967, with debates on political parties going into a stalemate, Suharto decided to place priority on a Legislative Election bill.

Finally, in 1969, Dharsono decided to discard his moderate approach, return to this original idea, and impose it by force on the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) in West Java.

In 1972, Dharsono took on the Ambassadorship to Cambodia while concurrently serving as Head of the Indonesian delegation to the International Commission of Control and Supervision, (ICCS).

Dharsono made his return in September 1984 after the Tanjung Priok incident, during which ABRI led by Benny Moerdani and Try Sutrisno ordered a crackdown on Islamist protesters.

Dharsono's involvement came when together with some Muslim leaders and some members of the Petition of 50 signed a statement questioning the Government's account of the incident, which seemed to have lowered the death toll of the protesters.