Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated training aircraft as well as seaplanes on nearby Lake Michigan during World War II.

Such aviation luminaries as Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, Jimmy Doolittle and Art Chester attended.

These facilities eventually became inadequate for newer and larger aircraft entering the Fleet in the 1930s, and it was recommended that the NRAB be relocated to Curtiss-Reynolds Airport/Curtiss Field.

This recommendation was approved and military construction at Curtiss Field began on 4 January 1937, followed by an official dedication as NRAB Chicago on 28 August 1937.

[2][3]For the next three years, the air station's primary role was elimination training for students seeking appointments as Naval Aviation Cadets (NAVCADs).

Those students meeting the required standards were later transferred to NAS Pensacola, Florida for further flight training.

By 1941, with the United States' entry into World War II appearing imminent, it was apparent to the naval leadership in Washington DC that the primary flight training facilities concentrated at and around NAS Pensacola would not be able to accommodate the needed expansion in Naval Aviation.

These skills were readily proven when squadrons and personnel were mobilized and recalled back to active duty during the Korean War and the Berlin Crisis.

These aircraft were home based at NAS Glenview and manned by a combination of full-time active duty Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR) personnel and part-time Selected Naval Reservists (SELRES).

Another Naval Air Reserve squadron at NAS Glenview was Fleet Logistics Support Squadron FIFTY-ONE (VR-51), operating the C-118 aircraft and later C-9B Skytrain II aircraft, providing operational support airlift and transport of military personnel and cargo worldwide.

This unit was deployed in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm and returned to NAS Glenview 10 months later.

Coast Guard Air Station Chicago was commissioned as a tenant activity on the northwest corner of NAS Glenview in March 1969 and equipped with HH-52 Seaguard helicopters.

Primarily a search and rescue (SAR) activity for the Great Lakes, Air Station Chicago was the primary U.S. Coast Guard aerial SAR unit for southern Lake Michigan, responsible for the waters from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan and south to Gary, Indiana.

In April 1995, Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City gained operational responsibility for what was CGAS Chicago.

The 1993 BRAC identified NAS Glenview for closure no later than 30 September 1995, along with corresponding inactivation or transfer of its assigned squadrons and other units.

On 29 June 1998, the Navy transferred the last segment of the closed Naval Air Station Glenview (BRAC 1993) from Navy ownership to private ownership, with the Village of Glenview, Illinois and the Local Reuse Authority (LRA) taking possession of over 90% of the closed and transferring portion of the base.

In their place is The Glen, a 1,121 acre mixed-use district, with new homes, offices, and retail space, although the control tower and Hangar 1 have been preserved as a historic building.