Naval Station Great Lakes

Naval Station Great Lakes serves as the Navy's central training hub, home to Naval Service Training Command headquartered in the historic Building 1 clock tower.

Travelers flying into Chicago O'Hare can find help at a Military Information Detachment inside the USO facility at Terminal 2, which assists with arranging transportation to Great Lakes; the Airport Express van service also runs to and from O'Hare.

Navy Lodge Great Lakes, located at 2500 Meridian Drive, is pet-friendly and includes amenities like complimentary breakfast, free WiFi, a fitness center, and a playground, making it a practical option whether on PCS orders or traveling for training or leisure.

Navy Gateway Inn & Suites sits on the main side of the installation and serves PCS, leisure, and TDY travelers holding a valid DOW-issued ID card, specializing in official business accommodations.

For those preferring off-base stays, several pet-friendly hotels are scattered through Lake County communities such as Gurnee, Libertyville, Waukegan, Grayslake, and Vernon Hills, giving families traveling with pets more flexibility than on-base lodging alone.

Great Lakes primarily supports unaccompanied housing for single or geographically separated sailors, with barracks-style rooms in Buildings 430 through 439 assigned one or two persons per room depending on pay grade, plus on-site lounges, laundry, and vending amenities within walking distance.

Geographic Bachelors—those whose dependents live elsewhere—are not normally authorized in Unaccompanied Housing by default and must apply through an Assignment Review Board, then wait for space-available placement, a process worth starting early if applicable.

The installation operates a Navy School Liaison out of Building 8100, a point of contact for families navigating local school enrollment questions, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center at 3001 Green Bay Road is the only military medical treatment facility in the Chicago area and the Midwest, offering combined inpatient and outpatient care to active-duty personnel, DEERS-eligible dependents, and eligible veterans as space allows.

Routine care follows a strict priority order, with active-duty personnel seen first, followed by TRICARE Prime family members and retirees, meaning non-enrolled beneficiaries may face longer waits for appointments on a space-available basis.

Branch medical clinics also operate directly within Recruit Training Command and Training Support Command buildings, and dental care on base is limited to active-duty members.

For everyday transit beyond the base, Pace Suburban Bus and Metra commuter rail connect the surrounding Lake County area to greater Chicago, with the Ventra app consolidating fares across Pace, Metra, and CTA for anyone commuting or exploring the region.

Utility setup for anyone settling nearby can start with InMyArea.com, which lets new arrivals compare providers by ZIP code rather than guessing at options.

Because Great Lakes sits between two major metro economies, the surrounding area is described as a high-cost region — a detail worth budgeting for if arranging longer-term off-base stays in Lake County.

If arriving with a pet and needing off-base lodging, several Lake County chain hotels explicitly allow pets, which can save last-minute scrambling compared to relying solely on base lodging.

Anyone with school-age dependents should contact the Navy School Liaison at Building 8100 early, since local school enrollment and transition questions are funneled through that single office rather than base-wide administration.