Having attended the École Militaire he became an adjutant to his regiment and then an aide to brigade and divisional generals.
Returning to regimental service as a chef de bataillon Pambet began a nine-year tour of service in Tunisia from 1896.
Leaving Tunisia in 1905, Pambet gained his first command, that of an infantry regiment, before becoming military governor of Marseille.
Pambet held command of the 22nd Division at the outbreak of the First World War and led it into many of the early battles.
After the division's poor performance at a river crossing during the First Battle of Picardy, however, Pambet was relieved of his command by General Foch for his "lack of impetus".
Pambet was placed in reserve and made assistant to the commander of the 12th Military Region.
It was in this capacity that he was acting when he was killed in a car accident at Plaisance, Dordogne on 6 January 1916.