I first visited the USS Midway in the summer of 2004 as a guest. The ship was the talk of the town – a new floating museum in San Diego. The line to get on board was strung all the way thru the parking lot.
A rep came along and announced, those buying memberships (annual passes) could get in a much shorter line. Sign me up! I was going to buy a membership anyway. Once on board that day, I was really impressed with the ship and whole concept.
I got back to the ship a few times during the year and once I looked past the ship I noticed that volunteers were working on board. What a revelation. Operations like this don’t happen by themselves. A lot of people put a lot of time and hard work to make the experience what it is for the guests.
I checked into what it takes to be a volunteer in August 2005 and as luck would have it, a class was just starting. It was a 6 week class held on board every Saturday morning from 8am to noon.
Most of the guys there were Navy vets. There were a few of us civilians too, but we were a minority. A few women were in the class too, but not many.
I had to pick up the Navy lingo quickly because they have initials for everything! But they were patient, and kept it very interesting. I was surprised to see that even former Navy personnel didn’t know much about other parts and operations of the ship. It seems that Navy jobs and responsibilities were very specific.
We really got the whole picture of the Aircraft Carrier. There were class room lectures, hand-outs, resource manuals, pop quizzes, guided tours, behind-the-scenes explanations, and expert guest visitors to let us in on the inner workings.
I was so proud when I passed the test and got to take a ‘walk through’ for the final exam. The walk thru was fun – I took a senior docent on a walking tour of the ship from bow to stern.
I’ll post a picture of me getting the certificate from the Admiral.
The funny thing is, I’ve learned more since I’ve been a docent that I learned in the class. I guess that’s the way it should be.
More next time.
A rep came along and announced, those buying memberships (annual passes) could get in a much shorter line. Sign me up! I was going to buy a membership anyway. Once on board that day, I was really impressed with the ship and whole concept.
I got back to the ship a few times during the year and once I looked past the ship I noticed that volunteers were working on board. What a revelation. Operations like this don’t happen by themselves. A lot of people put a lot of time and hard work to make the experience what it is for the guests.
I checked into what it takes to be a volunteer in August 2005 and as luck would have it, a class was just starting. It was a 6 week class held on board every Saturday morning from 8am to noon.
Most of the guys there were Navy vets. There were a few of us civilians too, but we were a minority. A few women were in the class too, but not many.
I had to pick up the Navy lingo quickly because they have initials for everything! But they were patient, and kept it very interesting. I was surprised to see that even former Navy personnel didn’t know much about other parts and operations of the ship. It seems that Navy jobs and responsibilities were very specific.
We really got the whole picture of the Aircraft Carrier. There were class room lectures, hand-outs, resource manuals, pop quizzes, guided tours, behind-the-scenes explanations, and expert guest visitors to let us in on the inner workings.
I was so proud when I passed the test and got to take a ‘walk through’ for the final exam. The walk thru was fun – I took a senior docent on a walking tour of the ship from bow to stern.
I’ll post a picture of me getting the certificate from the Admiral.
The funny thing is, I’ve learned more since I’ve been a docent that I learned in the class. I guess that’s the way it should be.
More next time.
posted by Robert Johnson | 7:06 PM
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