He finished Serbian secondary school in Pristina, and five years of gymnasium in Skopje and Thessaloniki.

[3] In 1905 he fled to the Kingdom of Serbia and entered into the 2nd Infantry Regiment "Knjaz Mihailo" in Niš.

[3] After a year, he also entered and finished the Military Academy in Belgrade, after which he served as a sergeant (vodnik) in the 12th Infantry Regiment "Tsar Lazar" in Kruševac.

[3] In 1906 he joined the Serbian Chetnik Organization and fought in the Poreče region, after which he was appointed Chief of Upper Staff at the beginning of 1907.

[1] In the First Balkan War he served as a sergeant in the 1st supernumerary Infantry Regiment and participated in the fighting around the Svirci-Novo Brdo-Kačanik karaula (Ottoman border station).