SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A world of interactivity showcasing national intelligence efforts for Operation Desert Storm sits just steps below the flight deck of the USS Midway.
"By having the listeners that people are listening to, like having things to push, and everyone just learns differently, so it's really cool to see everyone being able to experience it and actually take something out of it," said the Patel family, describing their experience of the new carrier intelligence exhibit, which opened Friday.
According to officials at the Midway, this is the first time the general public has entered this kind of intelligence space.
Not only that, but less than 1% of an aircraft carrier's crew is authorized to enter its intelligence center.
Interactivity is the name of the exhibit. There are red phones placed throughout the spaces, and you can pick them up to hear the perspectives and stories of intelligence officers.
There are plenty of hands-on experiences available at the exhibit, and Midway volunteer Diana Guglielmo said it took her experience as a nearly 30-year naval intelligence officer to help put this all together.
"They used my expertise serving on board five different carriers to shape the exhibit and where the different artifacts would go in the exhibit," said Guglielmo.
Obviously, things are different now with the help of artificial intelligence, but Guglielmo said this exhibit captures the essence of what it was like back in the day.
"We jokingly said, 'It's very clean right now,'" said Guglielmo. "Back in the day when we were operating on board carrier, we didn't have a lot of computers, so we had thousands of pieces of paper and maps and charts, so it had the overall feel and kind of the sense of urgency on a carrier operations center."
