He was also a member of parliament with the New Democracy party and served as Vice-Minister of the Interior in the Second Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis.

He was then sent to study at the United States Naval War College and Salve Regina University, from which he graduated with a master's degree in international relations.

In 1993, Chinofotis began a two-year assignment as Hellenic Military Representative to NATO in Brussels.

Chinofotis next progressed through several staff assignments until, in 2004, by now a vice admiral, he became Chief of the Fleet Command.

A year later, he was promoted to Admiral and became Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff.