Milan Pribićević's officer career has not been historiographically documented, and most of the archival material has been destroyed over time. In the Yugoslav kingdom, his surname was burdened by the political activities of his own brother Svetozar Pribićević, who went from being a man of great trust of King Alexander I Karađorđević to one of his harshest critics. His first days as an officer in the Serbian army were overshadowed by his transfer from the Austro-Hungarian army. He very quickly became part of the national organizations Slovenski jug, and then Naredna odbrana, where he had the opportunity to cooperate with part of the Serbian intellectual elite, but also with conspirators from the Black Hand organization. His activities were closely monitored by agents of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, where his transfer to the Serbian army was considered high treason. By chance, his other two brothers, Adam and Valerian Pribićević, would be accused by the Austro-Hungarian authorities in the High Treason Trial. The basis for the accusation would be the draft Statute of the National Defense organization, authored by Milan Pribićević. He entered the Balkan Wars with the rank of captain and left with the rank of major. He fought in the battles of Kumanovo and Bregalnica, commanding units of the Moravian Division of the 1st Convocation and the Timok Division of the 2nd Convocation. The beginning of World War I found him as a battalion commander of the Šumadija Division of the 1st Convocation, and after the Battle of Cer, he took over the position of battalion commander in the Combined Division. In the battles at Gučevo, he was involved in the unsuccessful mining of an enemy position, and a day later he showed incredible courage and command skills when, with a small group of soldiers, he carried out a sudden counterattack on his own initiative, stopping the Austro-Hungarian offensive at an important defensive point in the Serbian army's lines. For his courage, he was personally promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel by the then regent Aleksandar Karađorđević. During the retreat of the Serbian army in the autumn-winter of 1915/16, he led his soldiers through the battles in which the Combined Division protected the Serbian army on its March through Albania. During the battles, he always approached and commanded the Serbian soldier - a peasant - with care and understanding, protecting him and helping him in various situations and troubles. On the Salonika Front, he did not have the opportunity to command the regiment assigned to him after being sent to the USA, where he was at the head of a mission that collected volunteers for the Serbian army. Removed from the trench in which he had been continuously for four years, Milan Pribićević found himself in an unfamiliar environment in which a conflict was raging between two groups of Serbian emigrants. He did not fare well in that conflict, and the support of the Serbian government that sent him on the mission was lacking. Although he is credited with the arrival of nearly 6,000 volunteers to the Salonika Front, his mission was still assessed as a failure because Croats and Slovenes did not join the volunteer movement. Milan Pribićević was not to blame for this, as he left the mission in the USA at the end of April 1918. After returning to military service, he was not assigned until mid-October, when he was given a staff position in the Drina Division. At the request of the People's Council of the Serbs and Croats, whose vice president was his brother, he was sent to Zagreb at the head of the Serbian Military Mission, having previously been promoted to the rank of colonel. He spent a few months in active service after arriving in Zagreb, where he submitted a request for retirement. He replaced his successful military career with a political one, which brought him new life trials and dilemmas. Milan Pribićević's officer career was on an upward trajectory, without setbacks or blemishes. He belonged to those officers of the Serbian army who commanded "after me", leading their soldiers in the front lines. Historiography, except for a few works, did not specifically address his career, and his missions were completely forgotten until the centennial of the events of World War I, when he was recognized for gathering Serbian army volunteers in the United States.
Predrag Vajagić (Wed,) studied this question.