This past weekend, Semper Fi conducted its annual Field Exercise (FEX). FEX is the culminating event of the year for Marine Option midshipmen with the purpose of preparing juniors heading to Officer Candidate School (OCS) this summer. In addition to sleeping in the field and a 9-mile hike, the Juniors were evaluated on their 5-Paragraph Order skills, leadership, tactics, ability to make quick decisions under stress, and night land navigation. Senior Marine Options and Navy Options supported this exercise by participating as the opposing force (OPFOR) for the objective missions.

“There is a lot of mystery and uncertainty surrounding OCS as we get closer to arriving there ourselves. But our FEX serves us well each year as a check to estimate how prepared we are to go to OCS. And to us, it also serves another purpose. Each year FEX reminds us that we are not invincible. But it also proves that we are not made of glass, and can handle a lot more than we previously thought we could.” - MIDN 2/C Hansen