Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois - History

History

After the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Navy began investigating 37 sites around Lake Michigan in order to locate a new training center in the Midwest, an area that contributed 43 percent of the Navy’s recruits at the time.

Illinois Congressional Representative and chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs (1900 – 1911) George Edmund Foss pressed for the decision to locate the center at its present location, and was later called "The Father of Great Lakes". Foss Park, just north of the base in North Chicago is named in his honor. It is likely the facility would have been located elsewhere had it not been for the $175,000 contribution of the Merchants Club of Chicago to purchase the land.

Rear Admiral Albert A. Ross was the station’s first commander, and the base's Ross Field and Ross Auditorium were later named in his honor. The first flag was planted on site on July 1, 1905. President William H. Taft dedicated the station six years later on October 28, 1911. In that same year the station received its first trainee, Seaman Recruit Joseph W. Gregg.

Naval Station Great Lakes was at the forefront of the racial integration of the Navy. African-Americans were permitted to enlist for general service in the middle of 1942 receiving training at Great Lakes as well as Hampton, Virginia. Previously they had been restricted to special duties. The Navy commissioned its first African-American officers, later known as the "Golden Thirteen," at Great Lakes in February 1944. In July 1987, building 1405, the Golden Thirteen Recruit In-Processing Center, was dedicated in their honor. The surviving eight attended the ceremony.

Navy recruit training is now exclusively conducted at Naval Station Great Lakes' Recruit Training Command. Prior to the mid-1990s, recruit training facilities included Naval Training Center Orlando and Naval Training Center San Diego. Female recruit training was previously limited to the Orlando facility. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission of 1993 resulted in the consolidation of recruit training to Great Lakes. Following the consolidation, the Navy undertook a massive recapitalization (recap) program to upgrade the Great Lakes Recruit Training facility. The recap included the construction of Camp John Paul Jones, a 48-acre (190,000 m2) site on land formerly owned by the Veterans Administration Hospital adjacent to Camp Porter. New barracks were also constructed, and are referred to as "ships" by the recruits. Each "ship" was also named after an important ship in naval history, such as USS John F. Kennedy and USS Enterprise. Each "ship" can house up to 1300 recruits during training.

A 210-foot (64 m) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator called USS Trayer (BST-21) was also constructed as part of the recap program also known as Battle Stations 21 (BST 21).

One interesting note about the layout of the base are the railroad tracks south of the base where the Metra rail system runs. The south fence has numerous holes cut in it by recruits attempting to leave boot camp without authorization, or, in Navy terms, going UA (Unauthorized Absence).