That would depend. The exemption specifies that in order to maintain the currency of the FEX, you would have to maintain continuous employment as a pilot at a 121 carrier from a date prior to the expiration date of your FEX. For example, if you took the written in 1998, and were employed by Carrier X from that point until today, the written is still current per the FAA, should you be taking a checkride for your FE Certificate. Now, say you left Carrier X, then was hired by Carrier Y after a 5 day lapse in employment, you would have to retake the written.

You will have to have the original FEX test report, or an official copy, which the FAA will grant you if you contact OKC, as you will need to provide this at your interview (at least I did). You will need to check with the FAA to see whether or not your written falls under the exemption, depending on when the exemption reg was written. When I filled out my brown app, it asked for the exact date I took the exam. Basically, it is your responsibility to determine whether or not your written is current, and your local FSDO or OKC can advise you on this. Personally, since it's been so long, I would probably retake it to make brown happy.

Hope this helps. You can knock out the written in a day or two with Lone Eagle Seminars - they have an excellent online course, and average score is a 98.