TSC supports the following six learning sites: The following rating training class A-schools are located at Naval Station Great Lakes: Culinary Specialist (CS) A-school was also taught at TSC Great Lakes until December 10, 2010, when the school graduated its final class.

The school has relocated to the Medical Education and Training Campus at Fort Sam Houston, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

Boatswain's Mates complete Surface Common Core (SCC) Basic Maintenance Training and engineering rates complete Basic Engineering Common Core (BECC) Great Lakes was approved in 1904 by Theodore Roosevelt.

[7][9] Legendary band leader and march composer John Philip Sousa was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War I.

He led the Great Lakes Naval Station Band from mid-1917 until shortly after the Armistice was implemented in November 1918.

[7] At the start of 1917, just prior to the United States entry to World War I, Great Lakes was under the command of Captain William A. Moffett and had 39 permanent brick buildings, over 165 acres (67 ha), and about 1,500 Sailors.

On 5 June 1942, Doreston Luke Carmen of Galveston, Texas was the first recruit to enter the segregated training facility at Camp Robert Smalls.

[11][12][13] Starting in the late 1950s, new barracks, mess halls, classrooms, and staff offices at the Recruit Training Center were built for around $8 million.

[14] Demolition of the hospital began in January 2013 after its services were transitioned to the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in 2010.

[17] In the early morning hours of 11 March 1967, Rear Admiral Howard A. Yeager, Commander, 9th Naval District, was killed by a fire at his quarters at Great Lakes.

[22] In the aftermath of the rioting, 58 summary courts-martial were conducted, 19 sailors were found not guilty, and the base commander Captain Robert D. Colvin was replaced by Rear Admiral Thomas L. Malone Jr.[23][24] Days after the riots on 28 June 1979, four were sought in connection with the robbery of the Great Lakes Naval Station branch of the Citizens Bank of Waukegan.

[26] In 1984, 34 people were arrested in a drug sting called Operation Blueboy, in which investigators posed as sailors based at Great Lakes.

[29] The North Chicago "strip" was well known for prostitution, drugs, and crime by the early 1990s, when it became further isolated from the base after King Drive railroad crossing was closed, cutting the city's connection to Great Lakes.

[31] The recommendations were predicted to result in a net gain of over 8,000 military and civilian jobs to Great Lakes.

[33] The Naval Station Great Lakes and the Recruit Training / Boot Camp portion were not slated for closing.

Almost $800 million had been invested in building new barracks ("ships"), Battle Stations 21, as well as numerous upgrades around the base, including a non-denominational chapel, and reception center for civilian families.

Geographically, the station separates the affluent North Shore from the more industrial Waukegan/North Chicago area, the latter now announcing numerous redevelopments across their span for strip malls and New Urban residency communities.

Notably, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank and Frank Leahy were coaches for Great Lakes football as well.

In 2010, Northwestern Wildcats football announced they were exploring the possibility of holding practice at Great Lakes.

In one of the more famous games, in July 1945, Chief Petty Officer Bob Feller pitched a shutout with 10 strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs.

[7] In basketball, Great Lakes featured college national player of the year George Glamack.

[35] Due to the work of improving the quality of life by the Navy Exchange (NEX) store at the Great Lakes Naval Station[36] earned the base the 2023 Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Award for Excellence in Housing and Lodging Management.

The award was bestowed by retired Rear Adm. Robert J. Bianchi, Chief Executive Officer of the Navy Exchange Service Command and Ron Loman, Senior Vice President of the NEXCOM Hospitality Group during the Global NEXCOM Group Symposium award ceremony.

The award was accepted by George Lang who serves as the General Manager for Navy Gateway Inns & Suites in Great Lakes, Illinois.