On reserve status Barney received a come-back call to the Army in 1947. He became part of the Department of the Army Bureau of Public Information in the Pentagon. In 1948, he went to Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for their "long course" (one year). The US Air Force became a separate service in 1947, and Barney was invited to transfer from the Army. He became an Air Force man officially in July 1949.

In 1950 Lt. Gen. Lauris Norstad sent for Barney to participate in what was known as EXERCISE SWARMER. Barney served as chief of information for the exercises. An experimental group - a flying squad of writers, photographers, cameramen, and broadcasters - was trained to deploy immediately into any trouble spot.

The exercises were barely over when North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. Barney brought his SWARMER crew back together and took the first Air Force public relations crews to Korea in July.