NAVAL STATION GREAT LAKES
The Quarterdeck of the Navy — where every Sailor begins.
OVERVIEW
Naval Station Great Lakes is the U.S. Navy's sole basic training installation and the Navy's largest single training installation by population. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan about 35 miles north of downtown Chicago, the base spans 1,628 acres straddling the boundary between North Chicago and Lake Bluff, Illinois. At any given time, the base hosts approximately 21,000 recruits, students, instructors, staff, and family members.
The centerpiece of Naval Station Great Lakes is Recruit Training Command (RTC), the sole U.S. Navy boot camp. Every newly enlisted Sailor in the U.S. Navy completes basic training at RTC Great Lakes — roughly 40,000 recruits per year — making the base the foundational entry point of the Navy enlisted force. Naval Service Training Command, headquartered at Great Lakes, oversees not only RTC but also the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program at universities nationwide and the Navy's Officer Training Command at Naval Station Newport. The base also hosts a portfolio of "A" school technical training pipelines, including detachments of the Centers for Surface Combat Systems and Service Support. The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, named for the Apollo 13 commander and Naval Academy graduate, is the only fully integrated joint VA–Department of Defense medical facility in the country.
KEY FACTS
- Sole U.S. Navy Boot CampRecruit Training Command (RTC) trains every newly enlisted U.S. Navy Sailor
- Annual ThroughputApproximately 40,000 recruits per year
- DesignationQuarterdeck of the Navy
- Founded1911 — second-oldest active U.S. Navy training base after Newport
- Joint Health CareCaptain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center — only joint VA-DoD federal medical facility
HISTORY
Naval Station Great Lakes was commissioned on July 1, 1911, by President William Howard Taft, who selected the western shore of Lake Michigan for the Navy's newest recruit training station to draw recruits from the rapidly growing population of the upper Midwest. The original base — now the historic landmark area at the south end of the installation — was designed by celebrated American architect Jarvis Hunt in a unified Beaux-Arts style and remains one of the largest collections of architecturally significant Navy buildings in the United States. From its first day of operation, Great Lakes was conceived as a major recruit training center.
The base's training mission expanded dramatically during World War I. Between 1917 and 1919, more than 125,000 recruits passed through Great Lakes, and the base's on-station population peaked at over 50,000 personnel — a scale that overwhelmed the original 1911 facility and required the rapid construction of temporary barracks and instructional spaces across the surrounding Lake County countryside. After the war, the base scaled back substantially but retained its identity as a major Navy training site through the interwar years.
World War II transformed Great Lakes into the centerpiece of the Navy's training enterprise. Between 1942 and 1945, more than one million Sailors received their basic training at Great Lakes — a substantial fraction of every American who served in the Navy during the war. The Camp Robert Smalls section of the base trained African American Sailors during the era of segregation in the Navy, and after the war the base played a central role in the integration of Navy basic training. Through the Cold War, Great Lakes continued as one of three Navy boot camps, sharing recruit training duties with installations at Orlando, Florida and San Diego, California.
The 1993 Defense Base Realignment and Closure round directed the closure of Recruit Training Centers at both Orlando and San Diego, consolidating all Navy basic training at Great Lakes. The transition was completed in 1994, and ever since Great Lakes has been the sole U.S. Navy boot camp. The base subsequently invested heavily in modernizing its training infrastructure, including the construction of the USS Trayer indoor simulator — a 210-foot scale mockup of an Arleigh Burke–class destroyer used for the capstone "Battle Stations 21" final training event. Today, Naval Station Great Lakes endures as the Quarterdeck of the Navy: every active-duty enlisted Sailor in the modern U.S. Navy walked its quarterdeck for the first time at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes.
MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS
- Recruit Training Command (RTC) — sole U.S. Navy boot camp
- Naval Service Training Command
- Training Support Center Great Lakes
- Center for Surface Combat Systems Detachment Great Lakes
- Center for Service Support
- Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY
NOTABLE EVENTS
- 1911CommissionedNaval Station Great Lakes commissioned on July 1, 1911 by President William Howard Taft as the Navy's newest training station.
- 1918WWI PeakDuring World War I, the base trained more than 125,000 recruits, peaking at over 50,000 personnel on station.
- 1942WWII SurgeTrained more than one million Sailors during World War II as the Navy's premier basic training site.
- 1994Sole Boot CampBecame the U.S. Navy's sole basic training site after BRAC closures of RTCs at Orlando and San Diego.
NEARBY BASES
No other bases are catalogued near Naval Station Great Lakes yet. As more installations are added to the directory, related bases in Illinois and adjoining regions will appear here. Browse the full directory →