[1] His career as a professional soldier in the Soviet armed forces began during the Russian Civil War (1917–1923).

Initially the commanding artillery officer of the Red Army's 10th Rifle Corps during peacetime in 1941, Kamera was assigned to a series of commands in the Red Army's artillery following the June 1941 surprise invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany.

[5] Kamera was not as positively regarded by other military leaders – particularly as the Western Front failed to make significant advances for multiple months during the Soviet Army's pushback in 1943–1944.

A joint report from the State Defense Committee, composed of Georgy Malenkov, colonel-generals Shcherbakov and Sergei Shtemenko, and lieutenant-generals Kuznetsov [ru] and Shimonayev [ru], delivered to Joseph Stalin on 11 April 1944, criticized several generals and specifically faulted the performance of the artillery forces under Kamera's command—recommending his demotion in rank and replacement as artillery commander by another officer.

[6] Kamera was already in poor health at the time, suffering from illness and paralysis that required hospitalization in early 1944.