 Apparently bored with Rysbank and political life, in the summer of 1543 Carew applied to join the army of Sir John Wallop in Flanders as a lieutenant general of horse.Although Carew was an accomplished jouster, he was tactically inexperienced and learned the military arts through his position on Wallop's army council.With his brother Peter, George Carew saw action in skirmishes outside the French-held towns of Thérouanne and Landrecies during Wallop's campaigns against those towns.