[1] Following the War of the Sixth Coalition, from 1813 until 1818, Rukavina served in the Otočac and Slunj regiments of the Croatian Military Frontier.
In 1819, following promotion to the rank of a warrant officer, Rukavina was transferred to the 2nd Ban of Croatia Regiment based in Petrinja.
He took part in battles of the First Italian War of Independence, deployed to the area of Mantua with three companies of the 2nd Ban of Croatia Regiment in 1848.
In the period when he commanded the regiment, Rukavina was the president of Petrinja Shooting Society and a member of the city's Institute of Music.
He donated an altar and bells to the parish church in his native village of Trnovac [hr] near Gospić and established a fund for education of Rukavina family children.