FEX I

FEX I (Field Exercise 1) is a two day field exercise that puts individuals in charge of squads, 12-16 Marines, and tests their ability to brief a 5-paragraph order and then execute an attack. The third day is called R-5 (Range 5) and there are two squad sized attacks down a live fire range. I.E. We get real bullets and run down range and get to shoot at dummy targets that pop-up and down.

Under the old POI (Period of Instruction), you would do FEX I on Monday/Tuesday, and the company would take turns going back to the barracks or going to R-5. So, one half would be in the barracks on Wednesday while the other would be at R-5 and then they would switch on Thursday. However, under the new, "field-centric" POI, we stayed out in the field the whole time and did Land Nav 2 when we used to go back to the barracks. Here's how my week pretty much went:

The weekend prior was Memorial Day weekend so I had a lot of time to prep my order. I was really hoping that I would have a chance to go during the FEX. There would be only 32 billet holders for the FEX out of my Plt of 49. Day 1 we got fully loaded up and walked across the street to the open field across from the barracks. It was a little disappointing to start the field exercise less than 200m away from where I comfortably sleep each night but at least I didn't tire myself out walking there.

Let me interject with a quick story about the guy who was the first billet holder for my squad. Over the weekend, his contact got stuck in his eye and somehow he ended up seriously scratching his cornea trying to get it out and ended up in the ER. He ended up writing, briefing and executing his order high on painmeds and half blind. He ended up getting an "average" so you can get a good idea of the level of expectation on these orders. He also ended up getting medivac'd out at the end of the day because his eye started oozing again and spent the week sleeping in his room while we were out struggling with the heat and sleeping in the dirt. He has a scar on his eye. They have him scheduled for PRK to remove the scar at the end of TBS and oh, by the way, since we're already there, we might as well correct the vision in your eyes. Let me see, poke your eye out and get to spend a week in relative relaxation on drugs in bed, AND get to jump into the front of the PRK wait list to remove a tiny scar? Sounds like a deal to me. I'm seriously debating whether or not to wear eye protection, ever.

The first two days were seriously hot and humid, like 95+ degrees. We took long breaks in between our attacks and the guys who were starting to struggle took turns being the "enemy" by going to the next position with the instructor. As the enemy, you got an extra break and didn't have to 'rush' or run through the fighting position. After the first billet holder went, our instructor let us know who was next and they got to move ahead to prepare their terrain model, prep their order and then wait for everyone to catch up.

I was the billet holder on the second day and, I'm not going to lie, I hit it out of the park. I was happy because I had spent a lot of time prepping it and then did really well briefing it. However, I accidentally set off on the attack in a slightly wrong direction but was able to turn it into a quasi success since the 'enemy' wasn't expecting me to attack from that direction. It was really fun being a billet holder and getting to make decisions as apposed to just wandering around in the woods as "joe-rifleman".

There was a platoon that had someone lose their Night Vision Googles somewhere in the woods. Unfortunately, nobody had been doing periodic checks on their gear so they didn't have a clue where it was lost. They ended up spending every spare second looking in the woods for it and eventually had to come back in on Saturday to try to find it. They ended up finding it on Saturday. It was a bad week for that platoon because they also lost a spare SAW barrel, a bolt for a rifle, a Marine and that Marine's rifle (funny story).

At the end of day 1, we walked about 2 miles to LZ Raven, where we would do Day 2 FEX1 and also Land Nav 2. While it was only 2 miles, the heat of the day caught up to all of us and it felt like a death march. We all passed out under the trees, soaking wet with sweat and only a poncho liner for warmth.

Land Nav 2 and R-5 deserve their own posts. I'll sum up FEX 1 by saying that if you are heading out to the event, do yourself a favor and read your order out loud to someone else. It helps tremendously, even if they know nothing about what should be there.