four letters in one!

After attacking the mailman everyday this week I got a letter! Its 4 days of letters in one and full of lots of information. We didn't get a call from Nic on Sunday so I have been worried about him. Its great to hear from him.

February 16 (gas chamber day)
"Today is President's Day so we didn't do anything but sit in safety classes. Then we watched "we were soldiers". We actually got to watch a movie! Its one of the best movies I have ever seen."
He talks about how very proud he is to be in the army and wear the uniform and says, "its the greatest honor".
"We went through the gas chamber today! It's filled with a very potent amount of "cs" gas...crowd control gas. You go in with your gas mask on and then you have to take it off and breathe for 15 seconds! Those were the longest 15 seconds of my life! It is designed to attack all soft tissue such as eyes, nose, throat, lungs and you can fill it burning all the way down. It is the most horrible feeling. Wow it hurts. It was a huge confidence builder tho."

February 18
Nic talks about a rumor that was spread about a fellow soldier. Nic and several others went and "vouched" for this soldier but the drill sgts said it didn't matter. The fellow soldier was pulled up in front of the whole company (240 people) and embarrassed and will probably receive a reduction in rank and pay. He said he thought that kind of stuff (spreading rumors) ended in high school.

February 19
He finally got the vitamin c I sent him. At this point he has only gotten 2 of the letters I had sent. Brandon had written and asked Nic about his daily routine and this is his reply:
0500 wake up; 0545 first formation; 0600-0700 PT; personal hygiene until 0800; march to "chow" til 0900; train til 1500 hours with lunch at 1200 hours; misc. training til dinner chow at 1800; 1900-2030 drill sgt time; final formation til 2100; 2130 lights out. They can they lay in bed and write letters. On "foot march days" they get up at 0400 hours.
"My weapon sleeps on my bed post every night about 2 inches away and it goes everywhere with me. I love it! The food is HORRIBLE! We have white rice with brown gravy on it with every meal and the main courses are nasty. When you guys get here we are going out to get food!"
He asks if I will send his watch to him because "they don't have clocks up anywhere here!" and it drives him crazy never knowing the time.
He has appreciated getting pictures I send him and says they motivate him a lot. He has them hanging on his wall locker. I write to him on papers we printed out that have different pictures of family, friends and weird stuff on them (one was a picture of the new orange flags to carry across main street crosswalks and told him I am glad they waited until him and alex left to put them up because I can only imagine what those two would do with them!).

February 20
"So I got the rest of your mail tonight..all the ones without 2's on them (from before we knew we had to write a "2" on the back). I had to do 250 pushups! It wore me out so much! But it was so great to get the rest of the letters you wrote!"
He misses playing hide and seek with Hayden and misses him a lot.
"I am so sick of the food here so SO sick of it! I want your home cooking so bad! Oh and I would kill for some ricardos!"
"Going to get some sleep. Tell everyone hi for me and I miss you all very very much"
Love, PFC Fowler

What a great son! I miss him more than I ever imagined I would. It is wonderful to hear he is enjoying it and doing so well. We are very excited to go to his graduation. I got a letter today from his Aunt Kelly that they had gotten a letter from Nic. They are also thinking about going to graduation which is 10 hours from them.

letter from Nic

I think this was written last Thursday.
Hola Madre!
Wow, I am having so much fun here! Basic has taken off now that we have started doing stuff everyday. Like today we did a 1.5 mile foot march in full tactical gear and then broke down into teams of seven. I was Bravo team leader and we had a map and a compass and had to navigate through the forest.
Tomorrow we get to do advanced first aid so we have to put an I.V. in each other. I have to stick another soldier and another soldier has to put an I.V. in me! Its scary but way exciting at the same time. Then, on Saturday we have hand to hand combat YAY! I'm so excited!
Then, Tuesday (which would be today) we have the team obstacle course. Every obstacle it takes a team of people to maneuver over the obstacle. Wednesday we have the gas chamber. That's the only thing I'm worried for but it will be a huge confidence booster.
Just know I'm having fun and miss you all tons. I can't stress enough how much I want you guys at graduation. I want my family there. But I need to sleep and go. I will write when I can. Love, Nic

If you follow this link and then click on "photo gallery" on the left side it will take you to pictures of the things Nic talked about in his letter. Its different people but will give you an idea of the I.V. training and others.

I talked to Nic

Nic called this morning and he sounded GREAT! Last week we all missed his call so I was really looking forward to talking to him. I made a list a questions I wanted to ask him and felt like I was interviewing him. He said next Sunday they start White Phase, which is the second of three phases. He gets to shoot his new rifle then and is excited for that. He also got a "full assault armored vest" with plates that weigh 20lbs each.

Here are some things I asked him:
What did he think of the Victory Tower?
He had a BLAST and it was one of the funnest things he has ever done.
How many people are in his "group"? (I don't understand all the different battalions, companies, platoons, etc.)
He is in Echo Company and there are four platoons in this company. He is in second platoon and there are 55 people in it. There are 15 girls in each platoon.
His recruiter said they would probably be in dorm-like rooms. I asked him how many were in his room:
55! He said its a big bay and everyone is together. He said its much better like this instead of separate rooms.
What's his favorite part of basic?
All the training. He LOVES it! He is getting in great shape and learning a ton.
How are the people he is with and has he made friends?
Yes! He met a guy named "ford" in SLC before leaving and they have been together the whole time because of abc order. There is another guy from SLC with them. Everyone is "cool".
When is graduation (for sure)? April 10 and we HAVE to be there.
Has he been getting his mail? Friday was the only day they have delivered mail and he got a valentine from mom and grandma goss. I told him somewhere there are 3 letters from us, with two more on the way (one with vitamin C as requested), and 2 from grandma.
Can he get anything besides letters and cards? Yes, but no games or playing cards (the drill sgts take those) and absolutely nothing consumable. He can have hygiene items and paper to write home.

It was wonderful to talk to him and he said he can't believe he has already been there 3 weeks! He said he hoped to see Alex at church today but he didn't. Maybe next week.

the mystery is solved!

We have been trying to figure out why we have to put a "2" on the back of the envelope. Thanks to Grandpa George Yates the mystery is solved:

The 2 on the back of the envelope just helps them sort the mail faster at the company level. The 2 is the same as in his address (2nd platoon). They usally have 3or 4 big boxes in the company clerks office that they sort the mail into. The clerk gets all the mail for the company and then he has to sort it to which platoon it goes to. It's a lot faster if he just has to put all the 2s in the 2 box (or 1 s etc) rather than read everyones crappy handwriting in the long address on the front. Just an old soldier trying to help!!!

A letter!

Its really exciting to get a letter from Nic in the mail. I can only imagine how fun it must be for him.
There are a couple things he mentioned about sending him mail. First of all, we need to write the number 2 on the back flap of the envelope or he has to do 50 push ups. Not sure why, but Brandon is guessing its to show they have written home. I will ask and find out. I have sent him 3 letters already so he has had to do a lot of pushups for mom (one was a Valentine card, but I carefully picked out one that was "not foofy" as instructed by Brandon and searched for a white envelope to switch the red one it came with so he wouldn't get teased).

Punisher is their nickname. Um, I would want to be in a different one. lol I think addressing the envelope either way is fine...but don't forget the 2 on the back.

He wrote 3 pages and his handwriting is the best I have ever seen from him! One of the pages was added after because he was cussing out his family. Brandon, Hillary and I missed his phone calls last Sunday because we were asleep (Hayden had us up til 4am). Grandma and Grandpa and another friend were at church. Luckily, Alex and Kendrick answered their phones. So, the added page starts out, "First off you all need to learn how to answer your phones. Every single one of you!" It was very, very sad knowing we had missed our only chance to talk to him until the next Sunday. Needless to say, I will be anxiously waiting by the phone...even if it means I don't go to sleep.

He says that basic is much better than reception (where he was for the first week). He did an obstacle course the first day he got in basic and it was a lot of fun. He says, "we get to do the victory tower on Tuesday. Its a forty foot tower that we climb up one side and repel down the other. I'm pretty excited for that".

He got his gun, an M16 A2 and tells Brandon, "mine is better than yours because mine is full auto!". He doesn't get to shoot it for a couple of weeks but was excited he got a brand new one.

Everyone there is sick and coughs "all day long" so he wants us to send him vitamin C. The Drill Sgts suggested they take vitamins.

He asks for a family picture (which I already sent), writes some to his sister and asks about his grandparents and the goings on around here.

I had to smile at his last two paragraphs:
"I have one request though. Can you make breakfast burritos for me when I get out? I want them so bad! I better get going. I got some cleaning to get done! Hope you all are doing amazing and tell everyone hi for me! Can't wait to hear from you! Love, PFC Fowler".

I hope you get a chance to write even a short note to Nic. He says in his letter that he is trying to find more time to write but they keep them really busy. The website also says our soldier may not write as much as we would like because their schedules are very full. So, he may not reply but I guarantee it will be greatly appreciated.

PFC Fowler

I found out Nic has earned the rank of Private First Class which is two steps above Private. GOOD JOB NIC! I know he was working really hard to earn this before he left.

From Wikipedia: Advancement to Private First Class is currently automatic after a minimum of 12 months time in service and 4 months as Private. Some new recruits may begin their military careers as a Private First Class if they meet certain criteria when they enlist.

Pictured is the patch Nic will wear on his uniform.

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my first letter...AND a phone call!

I didn't expect a letter until next week, after Nic is assigned to his battalion, but there it was in the mail today! Written on army stationary (yes, its awesome), he starts by saying he has already changed a lot and is more disciplined. He leaves for actual basic training on Tuesday ("leaves" = drive across base). He is really excited for that because right now they "are like cattle", with Drill Sgt. yelling the whole time. He said that took some time to get used to but he knows they are trying to make them into soldiers in nine weeks.
The part of the letter I like most says:
"It is the greatest thing ever to wake up in the morning and be able to put the army uniform on and call myself a U.S. soldier. I have looked forward to that my whole life and now I get to and its the most amazing feeling ever!"
He apologies for writing in crooked lines because he was using his red-lense flash light. =0)
It is signed, "love, Private Fowler" in huge letters.

Every night between 6 and 7pm I answer my phone with lightning speed, hoping its Nic, and tonight it was. WOW! A letter and a call. It was amazing to hear his voice. He sounds great and already has an accent. It didn't sound like him a lot of the time. It was pretty funny to listen to him. He told Brandon that the first night he was wondering what in the world he had done, but he has gotten used to a lot of things now. His bunk mate (sleeps on the top bunk above Nic) is Private Ford and he met him in SLC. He said they think they will be in the same "group" (not sure what its called) in basic and they get along great. He leaves at 6am in the morning and is not sure when he gets to call or write. He said its even better than he thought it would be. Hard, but really cool to be one of them.

Once he is assigned to a battalion we will be able to get his address. I have decided not to put it on the site, but will say when I have it so you can email me for it. I just don't want weirdos writing inappropriate messages to him.

Thanks for reading and I hope you will keep him in your thoughts and prayers.