Naval Station Great Lakes | Base Overview & Info (2024)

Naval Station Great Lakes opened its gates on 1 July 1911. For six years after its commissioning, training at Great Lakes moved at a slow, steady pace with approximately 2,000 recruits cycled through per year. At the beginning of 1917, Great Lakes boasted 39 permanent brick buildings, on 165 acres, with about 1,500 sailors. With American entry into World War I, the base was expanded with tent cities. In January 1917, 618 recruits arrived in Great Lakes. In February, the intake totaled 922. By April, when war was declared, more than 9,000 arrived. By the time peace was declared in November 1918, 45,000 sailors were in training, and Great Lakes had 776 buildings, with 1,200 acres at its disposal.

During the war, over 125,000 sailors had been trained at the station.The post-war era saw training activities scaled back. In 1923, only aviation expanded with the commissioning of the Naval Reserve Air Base, Great Lakes. Recruit training slowed to a crawl, and was even halted for a time. Late in 1936, the Navy decided to move aviation training from Great Lakes to nearby Glenview. The increasing size of the new planes, and their demand for more runway length and numbers, made it essential.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the lean interwar period ended. By the end of 1940, Congress had approved a doubling of the Navy’s strength, with 170,000 sailors to sail it. In tandem with the expansion of Great Lakes, the ancestor or Training Support Center Great Lakes was founded. On 9 December 1940, the first class of the newly established Class A Service School started it studies. Between the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the 14 August 1945 surrender of Japan, over four million Americans served in the Navy. One million of those sailors were trained at Great Lakes.

In 1950, the Korean War again brought Great Lakes on a war footing. In one week in 1951, the station graduated 98 companies of recruits, matching its World War II record. The Vietnam War era also saw a heightened operations tempo.

In 1993—in the wake of the drawdown after the 1990-91 Iraq War—the Navy hosted recruit training in three facilities: Naval Training Centers Orlando, San Diego, and Great Lakes. The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission concluded only one training facility—Great Lakes—would continue to transform recruits into sailors. The other two would be closed. Recruit Training Command Great Lakes was subsequently rebuilt into a modern facility using the savings from the other two base shutdowns.

On 31 October 2003, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) was established. NSTC aligned all Navy enlisted and officer training accessions programs, consisting of more than 50,000 trainees annually, under a single command structure based at Great Lakes.

Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area (9,509,934)

• Chicago–Naperville–Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division(7,159,394)
  • Cook County, IL (5,173,146)
  • DuPage County, IL (924,885)
  • Grundy County, IL(52,989)
  • McHenry County, IL(311,122)
  • Will County, IL(697,252)
• Elgin, IL Metropolitan Division(750,869)
  • DeKalb County, IL(100,414)
  • Kane County, IL (515,588)
  • Kendall County, IL(134,867)
• Lake County, IL Metropolitan Division(711,239)
  • Lake County, IL(711,239)
• Lake County–Porter County–Jasper County, IN Metropolitan Division(719,700)
  • Jasper County, IN(33,091)
  • Lake County, IN(498,558)
  • Newton County, IN (13,808)
  • Porter County, IN (174,243)

Kenosha County WI Statistical Area (169,151)

Arriving from O'Hare International Airport Chicago, IL

If you are arriving by plane, from O' Hare International Airport, we have a Military Information Detachment located in the USO facility at Terminal 2, to assist you with obtaining transportation to Great Lakes. The Airport Express has a van that goes to and from O'Hare.

Arriving from Midway Airport Chicago, IL

If arriving at Midway Airport, look for the American Taxi company. They have a flat rate fee for coming to Naval Station Great Lakes. You can also take the Metra to Downtown, then transfer to the Chicago & Northwestern Line which comes to the Naval Station Great Lakes installation.

The Airport Express has a van that goes to O'Hare and there you can transfer to the Great Lakes van.

Arriving from Mitchell International Airport Milwaukee, WI

If arriving at Mitchell International Airport, look for taxi or Uber/Lyft Drivers. Naval Station Great Lakes is 1hr 30mins distance.

If arriving by auto, NAVSTA is located approximately 3 miles east of Hwy. 41 and approximately 15 miles east of Interstate 94/294 at US Rt. 137 (Buckley Rd.).

Driving North from the Chicago Area

Coming north from the Chicago area using the bypass Interstate 294 (north), to Rt. 137. Make a right turn on Rt. 137 (Buckley Rd.) and go east approximately 6 miles.

The shuttle bus on base is free and run by Naval Station Quarterdeck/CDO. Please call 847-688-3500 or DSN 312-792-3300 for more information.

Base Operator:

• On Base Callers3500
• Off Base Callers 847-688-3500
• DSN 312-792-3500

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
3001 Green Bay Road
North Chicago, Illinois 60064

800-393-0865 or 847-688-1900

For a DSN directory, please go to:

• http://www.disa.mil/Services/Network-Services/Voice/SBU-Voice/Directory
• GENERAL NUMBER847-688-3500
  Unless otherwise specified, all numbers begin with847-688-.