Buse was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on the same date and sent to the Basic School at Philadelphia Navy Yard for an officers course.

After he completed the course in April 1935, he was attached to the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Oklahoma and spent the following year on sea duty.

Buse assumed command of the battalion on January 8, 1944, and led his unit to the victory, capturing the strategic objectives of the operation with a minimum of casualties on his side.

He led the 5th Marines during the final phase of the Cape Gloucester campaign and subsequently received his second Bronze Star Medal for the securing of the village of Talasea.

[3] Buse was succeeded by Colonel William S. Fellers and after two months of service with the 5th Marine Regiment, he was ordered back to the United States in July 1944.

He was transferred to Washington, D.C., and assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps, where he was appointed executive officer of the Plans and Operations Section.

Buse was transferred to Pearl Harbor in February 1947 and appointed assistant chief of staff for logistics within Fleet Marine Force Pacific under Lieutenant General Allen H. Turnage.

Buse returned to the States in February 1949 and subsequently attended the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia.

At the end of September 1952, Buse was ordered to Korea and assigned to the staff of the 1st Marine Division under Major General Edwin A. Pollock.

Buse subsequently succeeded Colonel Austin R. Brunelli as Division Chief of Staff on October 11 and later participated in the defense of the western front.

When Pollock was transferred to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia as Commanding General Fleet Marine Force Atlantic in December 1957, Buse went with him, again as his chief of staff.

He was transferred to Headquarters Marine Corps in September 1961 and appointed assistant chief of staff for plans and operations.

This duty ended at the beginning of May 1963, when Buse was ordered back to Washington, D.C., where he was appointed deputy chief of staff for plans and programs in the office of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Wallace M. Greene.

Under Lieutenant General Buse's dynamic leadership, Marine infantry units were reorganized into well-coordinated, mobile elements, the command's electronic warfare operational capability increased to a degree unparalleled in Marine aviation history, and numerous major amphibious operations were planned and executed with tremendous success.