By SDCN Staff
San Diego, CA–Visitors to the Miramar Air Show this weekend will get the chance to step into the boots of the U.S. Navy personnel through the service’s newest interactive exhibit, the “Strike Group” mobile mixed-reality experience.
Designed to highlight the breadth of Navy careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the exhibit immerses participants in hands-on scenarios that replicate the teamwork and advanced technology central to the Navy’s mission.
“From the depths of the sea to the heights of the stars, America’s Navy is the most highly skilled, technologically advanced military force in the world,” said Rear Admiral James Waters, Commander of Navy Recruiting Command. “A STEM career in the Navy provides a life-changing experience filled with adventure, teamwork, and support, and the ‘Strike Group’ brings all these aspects to life in the most realistic ways possible.”
The “Strike Group” features three interactive challenges:
Flight Deck Operations: Using a Meta Quest 3 headset, players are transported to the USS Gerald R. Ford, where they work as a team to launch an F-35C Lightning II. Roles range from fueling and loading equipment to piloting helicopters and jets.
Underwater Repair Mission: Participants step into the role of a Navy diver, piloting a boat to a storm-damaged pier and using dive and welding skills to carry out repairs.
Career Quiz and AI Projection: A personality quiz matches participants with Navy career paths, providing them with a customized, AI-generated image of themselves in their recommended role.
The exhibit takes its name from the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group — a forward-deployed formation that includes an aircraft carrier, air wing, guided missile cruisers, destroyers, and thousands of sailors working in unison. The Navy currently operates 11 such groups worldwide.
Organizers say the mixed-reality experience is meant to show young audiences how STEM careers in the Navy extend beyond combat, encompassing nuclear engineering, aviation, underwater construction, and special operations.
The “Strike Group” will be open Sept. 26 to 28 at the Miramar Air Show.
