Corning underwent training as an Infantryman at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Camp Blanding, Florida. Assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 2nd Infantry Division, he arrived in France with his unit in October, 1944. In France, Corning was initially attached to an organization that performed rebuilding duties in towns and villages that had been liberated from German occupation. During late 1944 and early 1945, he took part in the Battle of the Bulge and the Western Allied invasion of Germany and attained the rank of private first class.