*There aren’t pictures of the things I describe because that is frowned upon*
On one of our “Choose Your Own Adventure” days I had the opportunity to visit the Pentagon as one of my relatives works there. I was able to see the Pentagon in a way that is not usually accessible to the general public, as normally with the heavy security features it is only possible to see the Pentagon on a group tour that has to be booked at least two weeks in advance. Because I was there with someone who works there, I was able to see parts of the building that aren’t specifically designed or marketed to the public.
One thing I didn’t expect when visiting the Pentagon was to be surrounded by art and historical artifacts to the extent that it felt like a museum. Although centered on military history and culture, someone has clearly made an effort in parts of the Pentagon to create exhibitions that display diversity. The short amount of time I spent walking through the Pentagon I saw exhibits about female pilots and black troops that explicitly talked about the struggles minorities have experienced in the military space. On the other hand, in the hallways that contain offices there are mostly just portraits of past military leaders. It is easy to tell where each branch of the military has their offices by the colors of the walls. The Marine Corps hallway was the most striking, with dark blue and red covering every inch of the walls. I realized we had crossed from the Navy wing into the Air Force when the shade of blue of the walls, paintings, and carpets lightened considerably.
Albert Jones is the OSD Historical Exhibit Program Manager (this links to a photo of him, the only one I could find). According to most accounts, Jones oversees pretty much all of the art and exhibitions in the halls of the Pentagon, all 17.5 miles of them. [1] Though I spent hours sleuthing the internet for information about the art in the Pentagon, all I was able to find were articles from various news sources about specific exhibitions. I would love to have the chance to find out more about this process at some point in the future.
The experience I had at the Pentagon may have been out of the ordinary in some ways, however, I did feel a number of things that I would assume are normal for visitors. Walking up to the Pentagon from the Metro is one of the most intimidating experiences I have had in awhile. It is a big building, the security is a lot like airport security but with a lot more guns, and even as someone with military connections and connections to the Pentagon itself, I didn’t feel like I was allowed to be there. Inside the Pentagon is more like a city than an office building, there are drug stores, all kinds of restaurants, florists, clothing stores, and basically anything else you could imagine.
The aura of the Pentagon is the embodiment of the rigidity of the values of the US military. The crisp lines of the hallways mirror the way that the employees, both military and civilian, conduct themselves from a distance. The Pentagon is just an office building in a way, however its position as a part of the government infrastructure of Washington D.C. gives it the opportunity to also be almost a museum.
https://pentagontours.osd.mil/Tours/
https://warriorcare.dodlive.mil/2019/02/wounded-warrior-art-exhibit-ends-successful-run-at-pentagon/
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=186560442
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pentagon