On 8 March 1949, Ilia joined the Army with the intention of becoming a military official. Later, ranked Caporal, he volunteered for the second Luxembourg contingent.

Following his father’s advice, Ilia adopted a non-Russian sounding name for the duration of his deployment to Korea, as his family had fled Communist Russia and were therefore branded enemies of the "Revolution". Indeed, Paul Kryloff feared that his son might be handed over to the Soviets after being captured by North Korean troops. As an alias, Ilia took the French version of his middle name, Georgi, and his mother's last name - resulting in: Georges Ewen.

During the war, he served as second in command of his squad and volunteered as a scout for every patrol conducted by the Luxembourg platoon. In September, he led his squad under difficult circumstances at the "KING" outpost and received a military commendation for his outstanding courage.

After his return to Luxembourg, Ilia continued to serve in the Luxembourg Army as a driving instructor for new recruits. After a successful military career, Ilia retired on 24 July 1986 with the rank of Adjutant-Major.