Following high school Fowler attended Arkansas Tech University, playing football for the Wonder Boys.
He was a member of the 1939 AIC Champion football team before being one of 104 students called into action for the 206th Coast Artillery of the Arkansas National Guard in January 1941.
[3] While stationed at Camp Murray at Tacoma, Washington Fowler's fellow guardsman formed a football team named the Arkansas Travelers.
The Travelers easily won their matchups against fellow Puget Sound area service teams, outscoring their opponents 279 to 6.
The West Coast title game, known as the "Khaki Bowl", against the Moffett Field Flyers was cancelled by the military due to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
[4] Fowler transitioned to the U.S. Army Air Corps and flew 33 missions over Germany, France, Holland, Belgium and Poland as a bombardier on a B-17 bomber during World War II.