On 1 March 1940, he reported to Fort Mifflin for duty which lasted for over a year. He returned to the base at Quantico briefly in June 1941 before going to sea in the transport at the end of the first week in July for a month's assignment. Promoted to Corporal while in that transport, Weiss returned ashore at Portsmouth, Virginia, on August 14, 1941, and from there, moved on to duty at New River, North Carolina, in September. Weiss was promoted to Sergeant in March 1942, and by the following summer, had been assigned to the Pacific theater in preparation for the Solomon Islands operation.