 Between September 1991 and November 1992 he was the first Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, succeeded in that post by general Janko Bobetko.Between 1992 and 1995 he was president Franjo Tuđman's chief military advisor, before becoming head of Defence Ministry's Office for International Cooperation between 1995 and 2001.In 2001 he was appointed to the post of the chief of the Croatian Mission to NATO until retirement in 2005.