Introduction

Hello All,

My name is Brian Belvin and I am currently one of the newest members of the NC Army National Guard. I signed up on August 1, 2011 under an 09S (officer candidate) contract and will ship to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri on September 13th. I intend to use this blog as a medium to keep family and friends updated as well as a resource for future soldiers as I progress through Basic Combat Training (BCT), Officer Candidate School (OCS) and my Branch Officer Leadership Course (BOLC).

Before I ship out to BCT and start updating via letter, I want to give everyone some background information about what brought me to this point.

For a long time now, from around the age of 15, I felt as if God might be calling me to military service. Since that time, that sense of calling remained in the back of my mind, However, I never felt prompted to act on it until recently.
In May of this year (2011), I started to feel that calling a lot more strongly. It was undeniable and unavoidable. (Just ask my wife who saw me cry for the first time since she has known me) So I immediately started trying to verify that this was truly something I was being called to do instead of just something I was making up.
I started by reflecting on all that had happened up to May 2011. There was the sense of calling at 15 that never seemed to go away. There was the unexplained urge to finally start getting into shape and lose some weight two years ago that made me 40lbs lighter today. There was the job change that finally allowed my wife to stay home with our son. And, there was the fact that my new employer had one of the most outstanding military leave programs around, unknown to me prior to this.
Having looked back on all of this, I discussed the possibility to my wife. One of the most significant affirmations was her lack of surprise or discouragement. She was not surprised and was very supportive to the point where it seemed she almost knew before I did.
That first week was the worst. I couldn't even watch TV (which is a big deal if you know me) because of how much of a burden it was on my mind. Finally, I sat down and prayed, determined to spend some time in the Word, and asked God to speak to me and confirm if this was a call. Without thinking about it, I simply opened the Bible and began to read. The scripture was a passage I never remember reading before, Isaiah 45, which talks about the Lord calling a man named Cyrus to be a warrior, going on to give promises of being with him, warning about questioning/resisting his call, etc. This was when I "got something in my eye" and my wife and I knew our answer.
I continued for two months seeking guidance and prayer from close mentors, friends, and family, gaining affirmation at almost every turn. All this eventually led to my day at MEPs (Military Entrance Processing Station - where you go to enlist). I'll tell you all about this "adventure" in my next post.

(Quick Note: I understand some readers may not be Christians. To me, that aspect is the single most important aspect in my decision to join that National Guard and the story would not be complete without it. However, I assure you that while my writing will continue to contain the Christian, or God, aspects, it will be primarily geared towards updating my family and friends on my experiences while I am away and providing valuable information to those who may join in the future. So I hope you will continue to read on.)