He served as battalion commander of the 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, a segregated regiment composed of black enlisted men and mostly white officers. Corley led his troops in close combat and earned an oak leaf cluster for his Distinguished Service Cross and three additional clusters for the Silver Star between August and November 1950. By August 10th of 1950, He had picked up Silver Star number 6 when he again pressed to the front to coordinate the attack under heavy small-arms and mortar fire. When a radio man was injured, he personally administered first aid and carried him back for evacuation. Near Haman, Korea, his battalion was fighting to take hilly and mountainous terrain when they came under a withering North Korean counter-attack. On multiple occasions when his company was beaten back by superior numbers, Corley rushed to the front and personally reorganized the retreating men to halt the enemy advance. Under heavy fire, he personally called for fire missions with devastating effect on the enemy and brutal accuracy. Corley would go on to pick up two additional Silver Stars in Korea. His later Silver Star citations would note that Corley would only return from the front when the Division Commander ordered him to do so.