why would you want to 'see the plan review process' to 'get more exposure to design'?? seems like these are two different things,
if you want to know what they look for while reviewing you can find that information in NFPA 13 (the checklist in the back chapters), if you want more design experience you need a mentor at your job or someone helping you hands on and not to get this by volunteering to look at your competitions work..

Once the design package is turned in for plan check, it becomes public record under most state Open Records Laws. Nothing in a fire alarm design submitted for approval is generally considered proprietary. The design may be copyrighted but because it's being reviewed by a governmental jurisdiction, it becomes an Open Record.

I'd like to see the plan review process to understand better what the AHJ goes through. As a former United States Marine, the idea of copying or stealing a competitors design is out of the question. As to a mentor at my job, there are no techs at my branch who are more experienced. Everyone calls me when they have a question about fire alarms.  

You are not missing a thing. In cases just because jurisdictions are protected by a some sort of doctrine they sometimes just sign off on drawings without looking the fine print. It is funny but real.
Dont waist your time.  

Have you thought about going through a course, such as Fire tech? http://www.firetech.com/index.html

I am not part of firetech and am not trying to solicit what they do for some sort of personal gain, I just know that these services have helped a lot of people in the past  

tony