During the Russian Civil War he was conscripted into the Red Army in May 1919 and fought as part of the Oryol Komsomol and Communist Detachment on the Eastern Front.
From October 1919 he continued his service in the volunteer communist detachment of the 1st Workers Regiment of the 9th Rifle Division, which as part of the 13th Army of the Southern Front fought against the Armed Forces of South Russia, participating in the Orel–Kursk operation.
From April 1932 to July 1936 he studied at the Frunze Military Academy, then was chief of staff of the 1st Belorussian Motorized Mechanized Regiment.
Upon returning to the Soviet Union in November 1940 then-Colonel Gluzdovsky was appointed deputy commander of the 1st Motorized Division of the 7th Mechanized Corps in the Moscow Military District.
[1][2] After Operation Barbarossa began, the 1st Motorized Division fought in the Battle of Smolensk as part of the 20th Army of the Western Front.
From October 1941 Gluzdovsky served as head of the operations department of the 26th Army, forming in the Moscow Military District.
After the failed Vitebsk offensive, he was relieved of command of the 31st Army and placed at the disposal of the Main Personnel Directorate in April 1944.