High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! 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, recruit training, or informally "Great Mistakes". It is approximately eight weeks long. All enlistees into the United States Navy begin their careers at the command, as do a select number of officer candidates. Upon successful completion of basic training, qualifying sailors are sent to various apprenticeship, or "A schools", located across the US for training in their occupational speciality, or ratings. Those who have not yet received a specific rating, enter the fleet with a general designation of airman, fireman, or seaman. Recruit Training Command is located at Naval Station Great Lakes in the city of North Chicago, Illinois in Lake County, north of Chicago. It 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.