USS Midway Museum debuts ‘top secret’ exhibit on Navy intelligence

SAN DIEGO The USS Midway Museum is opening the doors to a previously unseen top-secret area of the ship where naval intelligence history was once made Dozens of guests flocked to the flight deck of the USS Midway Museum on Friday morning standing in front of a ribbon and balloon display that marked the grand opening of the museum s immersive new exhibit Top Secret Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence Men in bright red sport coats dressed in a style reminiscent of characters from the movie Men in Black assisted retired Rear Adm and the USS Midway Museum s current President and CEO Terry Kraft with unveiling the once restricted area of the ship known as the Carrier Intelligence Center or CVIC Opening day of the a new exhibit at the USS Midway Museum called Top Secret Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence on Friday June in San Diego California Ana Ramirez The San Diego Union-Tribune I took over the Midway Museum in and I thought about spaces that were fundamental to me when I served on Midway I did two deployments on Midway I flew forward to combat missions from Desert Storm Kraft explained One of the places where it was kind of transformational for me was all the work we did here in the Carrier Intelligence Center during Operation Desert Storm So I wished to open it up The USS Midway s CVIC once served as the backbone and nerve center for naval intelligence during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early s The exhibit takes guests through the day-to-day lives of the naval intelligence specialists behind Desert Storm s strategic gathering and analysis mission planning and decision-making that supported aviators efforts against the Saddam Hussein-led Iraqi army s invasion and occupation of Kuwait People experience a new exhibit at the USS Midway Museum called Top Secret Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence on Friday June in San Diego California Ana Ramirez The San Diego Union-Tribune The exhibit consists of six themed displays Through a narrow hallway and the connecting rooms of the once high-stakes setting bright photographs naval artifacts and old newspaper clippings don the walls of the exhibit Tables are scattered around each room filled with artifacts that offer guests a more hands-on experience as they re able to get a close-up glimpse of detailed flip-books aviators created for a quick reference during flights toolkits where intelligence specialists stored their grease pencils and measuring tools or one of the telephones that play a recording describing the stories of intelligence officers Guests are even allowed to step into the shoes of intelligence specialists testing their skills in a group of tests based on visual memory codebreaking site assessment and close aerial looking skills where guests learn what naval intelligence role best suits them and participate in an immersive mission planning activity People experience a new exhibit at the USS Midway Museum called Top Secret Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence on Friday June in San Diego Calif Ana Ramirez The San Diego Union-Tribune The exhibit s opening comes after a nearly two-year planning and working period Initial talks to restore the CVIC were fleshed out in however the idea didn t come into fruition until summer when discussions of restoring the space earned the formal backing of a partnership between Naval Intelligence Professionals and the USS Midway Museum which funded the bulk of the project Construction began in the winter of and concluded in May this year We worked with a great company called Art Processors who did our another new exhibit for us last year Kraft disclosed We desired to make this something that anybody can come down and understand the role of intel professionals how they interface with aviators that kind of fusion that took place and get an appreciation for really the high stakes planning that went on down here Kraft and the museum enlisted the help of every intelligence officer he remembered serving with on the USS Midway as well as intelligence officers and specialists from the Midway s docents to scrutiny and prepare for the exhibit eventually totaling up to around helpers Retired Commander Diana Guglielmo an imagery analyst helped lead the planning efforts I was one of their advisors because I served on board five aircraft carriers as a senior intelligence officer Guglielmo explained I was the first woman to serve as the senior intelligence for the air wing and so I basically ingested all the artifacts and then grouped them together and then put them into the exhibit in the right place based on what would be on a carrier People experience a new exhibit at the USS Midway Museum called Top Secret Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence on Friday June in San Diego California Ana Ramirez The San Diego Union-Tribune Reflecting and honoring the real stories behind the CVIC and the intelligence specialists involved was essential to the organization a space of the exhibit is dedicated to retired Capt William Marcus Marc Luoma who died in Luoma s jacket and the coffee cup he used frequently on board are even on display As guests exit the last section of the exhibit displays historic photos from the naval intelligence area and a message paying tribute to their dedication and excellence in CVIC We hope they feel honored Mark Berlin the USS Midway Museum s director of operations mentioned We hope that they recognize our appreciation for the hard work and dedication that they have to everything that they do We saw that in engineering when we had a lot of our former engineers go through this space and feel like their story is being stated We hope the same thing happens here The unit behind the exhibit hopes that even the general population will find something meaningful to take from their experience I hope one day as young people come through here men and women they see kind of this quiet profession and they re motivated or enthusiastic about doing this job It s one of those parts of the Navy that we just don t talk a lot about Guglielmo stated In the intelligence region we say open the green door because all the classifieds are reliably hidden behind the green door and so this will open the green door and let them see kind of what their contributions can do