In 1919 he was transferred to the General Staff of the Royal Army where he also held the post of division chief director.

On 1 July 1937 he was promoted to brigadier general and briefly served at the Ministry of Italian Africa; in September of the same year he assumed command of the artillery of the XX Army Corps, stationed in Libya.

On 1 January 1940 he was promoted to major general and on 1 April he assumed the position of commander of the 21st Infantry Division Granatieri di Sardegna.

[7] In November 1943 Orlando, along with Messe and General Paolo Berardi, was released and repatriated at the request of the "Kingdom of the South", now co-belligerent with the Allies, and on 16 November he was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of War in the first Badoglio Government, a position he held until February 12, 1944, when he was appointed Minister of War, which he continued to hold during the second Badoglio cabinet, until June 18, 1944.

In 1946 he published his memoirs, Vittoria di un popolo, starting with the Tunisian campaign, followed by captivity in Great Britain and later the reconstruction of the Italian army.