Initially connected with the Submarine Defense Association, in March 1918 he was put in charge of the Camouflage Section, a newly formed government unit within the Bureau of Construction and Repair (Skerrett 1919:101).
Van Buskirk was the executive head of the two subsections, which included making certain that the patterns produced by these units were being correctly adapted to merchant ships by civilian painters.
The task of commissioning painters to apply dazzle camouflage patterns to the ships was given to a civilian agency, the Emergency Fleet Corporation (Van Buskirk 1919:227).
Van Buskirk's skills as a fencer led to his being a member of the US Olympic fencing team in 1924, 1928 and 1932, competing with the sabre.
A member of the US Fencing Association (USFA) Hall of Fame, he died in Harris County, Texas, in 1980.