Recruit Training Command is located at Naval Station Great Lakes just north of Chicago, Illinois in Lake County near the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, is the command within the United States Navy primarily responsible for conducting the initial orientation and training of new recruits. It commonly is referred to as boot camp or recruit training and is approximately eight to nine weeks long. All enlistees into the United States Navy begin their careers at the command, as do a select number of officer candidates.

Recruit Training Command is a tenant command, meaning that although it is located on the base, it has a separate chain of command. Since the closure of Recruit Training Commands in Orlando and San Diego, Great Lakes is the only basic training location in the Navy, and has been called "The Quarterdeck of the Navy," since it was first utilized in 1911.

Naval Station Great Lakes is the largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training station in the Navy. The base has 1,153 buildings situated on 1,628 acres and has 50 miles of roadway to provide access to the base's facilities. The base is like a small city, with its own fire department, Naval Security Force, and public works department.

Naval Station Great Lakes has more than 25,ooo military and civilian personnel training, working, and living there. RTC is an environment were training occurs 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. Its training commands and schools proudly graduate thousands of recruits and Sailors every year. It, along with the mission here, has been in constant change, allowing the Navy to prepare Sailors for an increasingly sophisticated and technology-based Navy.

Naval Station Great Lakes simple mission is to deliver highly skilled, technically proficient, disciplined and motivated Sailors to the fleet.This historic facility has put out the Navy's finest Sailors.