He entered the Hellenic Army Academy and graduated on 28 June 1918 as a Cavalry 2nd Lieutenant.

During the Greco-Italian War of 1940–41, he served as the chief of staff of the Hellenic Army's sole Cavalry Division.

[2] Following the German invasion of Greece and the country's occupation, in 1943 he fled to the Middle East, where he joined the armed forces of the Greek government-in-exile.

[2] After his retirement he engaged in politics with the conservative National Radical Union of Konstantinos Karamanlis.

[4] Following the fall of the Regime of the Colonels, Gikas served yet again under Karamanlis as Minister for Public Order in the first post-junta civilian cabinet sworn in on 24 July 1974,[5] and in the cabinet formed after the November 1974 election by Karamanlis' new party, New Democracy, until 5 January 1976.