Colonel Arthur Lyle Belknap was born 2 June 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. Attended Omaha Central High School from September 1939 to May 1942. Entered the U.S. Army as a Private through the Selective Service System on 4 April 1944 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Attended Basic Infantry Training at Camp Dodge, Iowa and was assigned duties as a Medical Corpsman at the Station Hospital, Camp Dodge, Iowa. Attended the Signal Corps Noncommissioned Officers’ School at Camp Crowder, Missouri. Served as a Small Arms Specialist with the 3072d Ordnance Company, Camp Huckstep (Cairo), Egypt until selected for attendance at Officers’ Candidate School in March 1945. Entered the Infantry Officers’ Candidate School, Fort Benning, Georgia, Class Number 534 on October 20, 1945. Graduated and commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry, AUS on February 14, 1946. Served as a Training Officer at the Army Ground Forces Basic Training Center, Fort McClelland, Alabama prior to assignment to Germany in May 1946. Following a brief tour with the 3d Replacement Depot, was assigned as Commanding Officer, Company G, 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division at Kaufburin, Germany. Later served as Battalion Headquarters Company Commander and Battalion Adjutant. Following the deactivation of the 9th Infantry Division in December 1946, was reassigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1, 1st Infantry Division at Bad Toelz, Germany. Promoted to First Lieutenant and remained with the lst Division until  released from active duty in April 1948. | Entered the University of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska in June 1948. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in June 1950. Participated in the Active Reserve Program with the 89th Infantry Division and attended the Basic Infantry Officers’ Course, the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, during the summer of 1950. Received the Master of Arts degree in Applied Psychology in August 1951. | Recalled to active duty in October 1951 as a First Lieutenant of Infantry and assigned to Company H, 85th Infantry, 10th Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas as a Basic Infantry Training Instructor. Reassigned as Commanding Officer, Company E, 224th Infantry, 40th Infantry Division in the Republic of Korea in January 1952. Participated in the 2d Korean Winter, Korean Summer-Fall Offensive and 3d Korean Winter Campaigns and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Silver Star w/ Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and promoted to Captain. Assigned as the Infantry Instructor, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Instructor Group at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska in February 1953. Served, additionally, as the University of Nebraska Varsity Rifle Coach. Reassigned to the 3d Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia, and attended the Advanced Infantry Officers’ Course at the Infantry School from July to November 1956. Following the course, was reassigned to Fort Ord, California to assist in the activation of the U.S. Army Combat Development Experimentation Center. Served as a member of Infantry Experimentation Team Number 1 at the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation, as Assistant Secretary to the General Staff and Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General, and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Reassigned to the 2d Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia in December 1959, and served as the Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General and, following promotion to Major, as Assistant to the Division Chief of Staff. Was awarded the 1st Oak Leaf Cluster to the Army Commendation Medal. | Attended the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in August to November 1961, prior to assignment to Germany. Served as the S-3, 3d Infantry Division Trains. Attended the Military Assistance Training Advisors’ Course, Special Warfare School, Fort Bragg, North Carolina in September -November 1962, prior to reassignment to the Republic of Vietnam. Served as Executive Officer, U.S. Army Section, Military Assistance Advisory Group, and later, as the Senior Advisor to the 42d Infantry Regiment, 22d Infantry Division, Army of Vietnam. Was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge with Star and the Air Medal. Returned to Fort Carson, Colorado in December 1963, and assigned as the Executive Officer, 2d Battalion, 10th Infantry, 5th Infantry Division. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and reassigned in November 1964 as the Inspector General, Fort Carson, Colorado, and was awarded the 2d Oak Leaf Cluster to the Army Commendation Medal. Reassigned to the Joint US Military Assistance Advisory Group-Greece at Athens in November 1966. Served as Chief, Plans, Organization and Requirements and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Following attendance at the Special Vietnam Orientation Course at the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia in June 1968, was reassigned to the I Field Force, Vietnam. Served as the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 and was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Army of Vietnam Staff Service Medal. In July 1969,  promoted to Colonel and assigned to the Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army in Germany. Served as Special Assistant, Chief, Production Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence.