Midshipmen take aim while participating in a live fire exercise during the Semper Fi Society’s FEX. The purpose of the FEX is to introduce Midshipmen to the basic tactics of Marine infantry. Photo courtesy of Midn. 1/C Daniel McCawley.

Most recently, they put together and executed a field training exercise (FEX) Nov. 7 at Naval Support Activity Annapolis.

‘‘We put together a training package that essentially a second or first lieutenant would put together for their platoon,” said Midn. 1⁄C Daniel P. McCawley, president of the Semper Fi Society and the FEX coordinator. ‘‘They get the experience of what an enlisted Marine might go through.”

Combining rifle training, hand to hand combat and field tactics, the six-hour training session helped many of the 77 Mids involved get a feel for a Marine’s training environment.

McCawley, a prior enlisted Marine, describes the environment as an open forum, allowing the training to stop at any time if someone has a question.

‘‘The things we did weren’t easy,” said McCawley, referring to the different stations that made up the FEX. ‘‘It definitely doesn’t require them to put up with being berated. You should walk away from it feeling like a better warrior and Marine.”

McCawley said the mission of the FEX both past and present is to prepare Midshipmen for their leadership roles after commissioning. He describes the FEX as the Marine alternative to the Yard Patrol Craft training, enabling the Midshipmen to learn and better understand the roles and relationship between enlisted Marines and their officers.

‘‘I saw a lot of my friends who were junior Marines go to combat not as prepared as they could have been,” said McCawley, drawing on his prior enlisted experience. ‘‘There’s nobody that hands you the instructions. As the leader it’s up to you to go through the manuals and compile your own playbook. I decided that we need to teach Mids the very basics of what we’re doing and that there’s no definite one way to do something.”

McCawley’s not looking for it to be like another version of the Basic School, where all Marine candidates go after graduation from the Naval Academy, but instead an opportunity to instill a basic Marine knowledge and understanding as early as possible.

‘‘It’s really teaching us, and we’re kind of learning as we go, how to be that leader that finds all of the right information ourselves,” said McCawley. ‘‘One of the biggest takeaways the Mids get is what the Marine Corps is all about – training for combat.”

The Semper Fi Society is always looking for new members and more participants for their future exercises. McCawley said that the group is a pool of information and everyone has the ability to teach.

‘‘One of the biggest things I try to do is to show them that you don’t have to wait around for your superior,” said McCawley. ‘‘If you see something wrong, take the initiative and correct it.”