 Bol, then a lieutenant-colonel in the army, sent several of his wives and children to safety in Nairobi, Kenya, and joined the SPLA as a field commander, along with William Nyuon Bany.Garang was the Commander-in-Chief, Bol second in command, Bany third and Salva Kiir fourth.Bany was also the Chief of Staff,

In 1986 Bol was deputy commander-in-chief of the SPLA and deputy chairman of the SPLM provisional executive committee.