Recruit Training Command Great Lakes - North Chicago, Illinois

Ricardo F.

Arrived here on Aug 15th 2011. BEST decision of my life, it was and still is a win win. Be on time, do what you're supposed to do when no one is watching, and obey orders... Three rules that would literally help you in your military career. Also, slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Cha-Ka

1996 DIV 226 SHIP 13
Served 1996-2006 Left as an E-6 Honorably. 100% P&T

Best resort I have been to hands down!
- 6am wake up calls are guaranteed Mon thru Sun.
- Group showers and saving water by the carwash method.
- Total break from family and friends for over 9 weeks. Who needs to communicate with them when you have 60-80 other strangers to talk to that you eat, sleep, and bathe with.
- The Green eggs are delicious. Your vegetables will be cooked to ensure there is no need to chew them.
- Education services are hours of endless fun where you can fight off that lack of sleep by watching never ending power points.
- Take a break at the free pool where you swim with all the other guests.

By the end of your vacation at Great Mistakes. You will have learned the warning signs of depression, withdrawal from society, and how to cope with it all on less sleep than you ever have in your life.

(Obviously, I made this to be humorous and to ensure if you are thinking about going; what you're getting yourself into. Trust me, any path in life you take can be the wrong one. This wasn't and never will be for me. I am so thankful for being able to serve. We didn't have some of the problems I have read others had. Each experience will be slightly different. Though, I can agree with the Army about allowing calls on Sundays for an hour. It's really good for moral, helps a recruit get a refresh, something to look forward to or work towards. My son is in Army BC as of 3/4/25 and it was such a pleasure to hear from him the first week. Of course they could have had 1.5 hrs but, someone decided to talk at chow to ask someone else a question. (that guy apologized profusely my son said LOL)

Jewsby

Great staff, the pinnacle of both fine dining and room service with a nice and early wake up call with the physical trainers every day! They even gave me a free hat when I left! 10/10 great resort.

Kevin L.

Had some of the worst interactions with people here but, it’s boot camp, so that’s the whole point!, Dining facilities are better than most other military bases. However I think they should fire most if not all of the civilian supply workers. One guy was making it unnecessarily hard to get my dress blues hemmed, the day before graduation!!!, he should be replaced with an LS!!!!

Domenick D.

I was there from 22 May 95 to 22 July 95. Division 290! We had Chief Lamb, Petty officer 1st class McDanel and 2nd class Couch. Was absolutely hilarious times. The shit the CC's made us do cracked us up. It was the best decision I have ever made. I am now service connected at 100% P&T. I wish I could go back and do it again. It was an HONOR to serve my country

Daniel C.

Daniel Chavez it was awesome pictures of seeing the Young Navy man and. wama seeing those barracks Big Time floor and remind me when I was in the army in basic training they still got a tradition I having the barracks big chain and clean that is awesome thank you for all your instructors out there keeping these young men and women straight and how the military people live in

Delissia R.

Navy graduation for my daughter" was Awesome. Beyond proud 👏🙌🫡🇺🇲⚓️🛳

Steve Z.

Div. 22 Co. 114 in May of ‘92. Garbage cans flying down the middle of the barracks every morning to wake us up, cycling if we screwed up with the windows closed almost to the point of making the sprinkler heads activate because it was so dang hot, singing “Anchors Aweigh” when marching under the tunnel…Petty Officer Bell and Petty Officer Barnett were my Company Commanders and they were fair when they needed to be yet brutal when we let them down. I earned two nicknames while in boot camp…”Bull” because Petty Officer Barnett told me I look like the original character on “Night Court” and Petty Officer Bell called me “New York” because I had the attitude from the moment I got off the bus and it never changed and he loved that about me. They messed with me the most, I didn’t care and they knew it. I hope they knew how much they mattered to me…even to this day.