US Navy Recruit Training Command - Keel Yearbook (Great Lakes, IL)

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.Xt its wartinie peak, Great Lakes hatl a crowclecl capacity ol' lllltllllll 111en. More tl1a11 a million liluejaekets, almost a thirrl ol' the lI1Cl1 i11 tl1e wartinie lleet. were trained at Great Lakes during tl1e war. On March 28. lil-lfl. the Secretary ol' tl1e Navy estahlishecl tl1e 'l'raining Station as a group connnantl anrl reclesignatecl it the U. S. Naval 'l'raining Center, Great Lakes. Illi11ois. 'l'he Center has lour suborrlinate connnancls: the Marine Barracks, ancl the .-Xclrninistrative, Service School, ancl Re- cruit Ylillitllllllg eonnnancls. I11 peacetime Great Lakes l'C1l1ZllIlS tl1e worlcl's largest naval training center anrl one ol' our Navy's 111ost important establish- ments. ters of tl1e Connnanclant, Ninth Naval Dis- trict. who has general supervision over Naval activities within tl1e clistrict's l5 states. One ol' the IIIOSI lIIlIJ0l'l21l1l lunctions ol' the Coninianclant is tl1e 2itllIlll1lSll'2lLlOll ol' the clistrict's civilian Naval Reserve. Two recent atlclitions to the CICIIICI' are the Naval Supply Depot. which is heconnng OIIC ol' tl1e Navy's large centers ol' supply rlistrihution. ancl the Navy Meclieal Research llnit. locatecl i11 Clllllp fil'CCll Bay. which is eonclucting research in respiratory cliseases anrl rheuinatie lever. A Naval Hospital. also loeatetl at Great, Lakes, has complete facilities lor nmintaining tl1e Navy's high Skedbdg inspections have changed very little lluilrliiw' l ol the Center is the heaclquar- h Naval Training Center is located on the shore of Lake Michigan. stanclarcls ol' physical elliciency. Here treatinent is giv- C11 to patie11ts ol' all the arrnecl forces. SCl'YlCClIlCl1iS rlepenrlents also are given nietlical treatn1e11t i11 the hospital's Depenclents' Care Department. Another activity ol' the Naval Hospital is the Hospi- tal Corps Sehool, where luture corpsnien lear11 the skills neetlecl i11 their work during a11 i11te11sive l6- week course. 'lihe Marine Barracks is chargecl with general clis- ciplinary ancl security controls. 'llhis eonnnancl also carries out a Nlarine training prograni. 'lll1Cl'C are A formation in what is now the service school area. since this picture was taken. Recruits now sleep in bunlcs instead of hammocks, however, and wear their ratings on their sleeves instead ot their cuffs. Com- pany commanders no longer wear leggings. Y I 2 if K if-M. za-.ve in---2-. X tmmrsmsl The four-wheeled 'field pieces were 'familiar equipment to recruits of years ago.

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1 -.at -. 4 WMV entrance to the United States Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, lllinois. HIS 'I'Hi-2 N.-xv.-xL'1'R.x1x1xo C1-:NTL-zu, Great liakes, Illinois, had its start in 1004 when a board ap- pointed by President Theodore Roosevelt selected two adjoin- ing farms North of Lake Blufl. Illinois. as a site for a naval training station. The Merchants' Club ol' Chi- cago purchased the larms and presented them as a gilt to the government lrom the people ol' Chicago. Six years ol' construction liollowed. nt one time recruit companies held mock rifle battles on TUHY and on Ju y . . , tie Station was commissioned. Four months later it was dedicated by President lVil- liam Howard 'l'a1't. ,-Xt that time it covered 172 acres and had a capacity ol' 1,500 men. 'l'he Station's size remained constant until the be- ffinninv' ol' the Iirst XVor1d 1Var, when a wartime ex- D O Jansion Jrogram took ilace. liv ifXrmistice Da '. 1018. 1 o , the Station had expanded to 1,200 acres and had 45.000 men undergoing training. .-X quarter ol a mil- lion men were trained at Great Lakes during 1Vorld Wlar I. During the period between wars the Stations activity Ross Field. was greatly decreased. lt was complete- ly closed down as a training activity from June 30, 10321, to July 20. 1035. XVhen President Roosevelt. proclaimed a national emergency on September 0, 1030, the total population at Great Lakes was less than l,000. July 26. 1040, marked the beginning ol' a construction program which was to become the most extensive in Station history. Great liakesi capacity was in- creased to 1,400 by the day Japan struck at Pearl Harbor. 1Vith fXmerica's entry into 1Vorld 1Var ll, a tremendous increase in con- struction was authorized. More than 10.000 civilians were employed in the program, expanding the Station's capac- ity to 82.000 men by September. 1042. In this expansion the Stations area was increased by more than a thousand acres.

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usually about 700 Marines stationed at the Center, although their nutn- ber varies with the training sched- ule. 'lihe Administrative Connnand, which occupies inost ol' the original training station, is the nerve-center of Great Lakes. lt handles the phys- ical lnaintenance and overall achnin- istration ol' the entire Center. 'l'he Service School Connnand is made up of seven Navy trade schools, where Blue-jackets are trained for some ol the highly technical jobs in the Navy. 'l'he schools' courses range in length from l2 weeks at the Journalist School to 42 weeks at the Electronics Technicians School. Other units in this connnand are the lilectrician's Mates, Interior Connnunications, Engineinen, Fire Controhnen, and Machinists Mates schools. Equipped to provide prac- tical experience as well as classrooni instruction, the schools admit only especially selected inen. lvlany stu- dents enter innnediately after coni- pleting their recruit training. 'lihe largest ol' the four connnands at Great Lakes is the Recruit Train- ing Cltlllllllllllfl. More than hall' the inen entering the Navy receive their first training here. Great Lakes is also the home of the Navy's only ,Jw y qfxffafy wif ylsfxj - r 3 li 1-wa.q.mw. WM N W! fi' 1 f . 4 1 K! 1 r.,,,V,,.g ' Nfirkft 7 .. - ate! ' ,ff ,V-f -Msmfm we .pert 'ss-fa ,?'3+ . 4, -a gr-..g:5:,q.g .... .:g5f, 3 is the headquarters ofthe Naval Training Center. , 1 Service is the Navy's depart- ment store. 4 recruit barracks.