NTC Great Lakes, IL Installation Guide

LOCATION: Naval Station Great Lakes, located 1 hour north of Chicago, Illinois and 1 hour south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Major Commands: Naval Service Training Command, Naval Station, Recruit Training Command, and Training Service Command.

Naval Station Great Lakes Base Telephone Access: INFORMATION:(847)688-3500; DSN:     792-3500

MISSION:  To train the sailors for the Fleet. Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA) is home to the U.S. Navy's only Recruit Training Command. The largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training center in the Navy, the base includes 1,153 buildings on 1,628 acres and uses 50 miles of roadway to provide access to the station's facilities.

Great Lakes has been turning civilians into seamen and seamen into Sailors for more than 90 years. From NAVSTA's founding in 1911, it has maintained its position as the Navy's largest training facility. From World War I through today it has trained and sent to the fleet more than two million new Sailors through its Recruit Training Command (RTC) and nearly an equal number from its technical schools.

HISTORY:  Theodore Roosevelt signed the act authorizing the construction of the station and directed the Navy to make Great Lakes the biggest and the best Naval training command in the world.

Rear Admiral Albert A. Ross raised the flag on the site July 1, 1905, and took possession of the land for the government. He was the station's first commander. Ross field and auditorium on mainside are named in his honor. More than 100,000 men trained at Great Lakes during the First World War. During this time, Seabees began here and Lieutenant John Phillip Sousa created 14 regimental bands numbering a total of 1,500 members. On several occasions all 1,500 played together on Ross Field.

Great Lakes is a pioneer in the racial integration of the Navy.  In 1942, Doreston Carmen, Jr., reported as the first African-American for training in a general rating.

Two years later, 12 ensigns and a warrant officer were commissioned here as the first African-American officers in the Navy. During the summer of 1987, the new Recruit In-Processing Center was dedicated in their honor with eight surviving members of the "Golden 13" in attendance.