Until the end of 1918 he lived in Vitebsk, but later in Oryol. He returned to his homeland in January 1919. Sīmansons arrived in Riga on January 8 and on June 6, he joined the Latvian National Armed Forces. On July 10, after the unification of the Northern Latvian and Southern Latvian brigades and the formation of the Latvian Army, he was appointed its first commander-in-chief. From July 15 to September 10, he was also a Minister of Defense (Minister of War from 1923).
