Rising to the rank of general by the 1960s, his ties to the Soviet Union led dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu to question his loyalty and sideline Militaru in 1978.

[1] In 1978, under suspicion for being a GRU agent and for plotting against dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, he was retired from active duty and made an assistant to the Industrial Constructions Minister, remaining until 1984.

[7] Following the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, Militaru requested the Soviet leader's backing for an anti-Ceaușescu coup d'état; this was rejected.

Other officers became increasingly uneasy and a pro-reform group, Comitetul de Acțiune pentru Democratizarea Armatei (CADA, Action Committee for the Democratization of the Army) emerged on 12 February 1990.

The following day over a thousand soldiers and officers assembled in Bucharest,[12] and Militaru was dismissed on 16 February, replaced by General Victor Stănculescu.