The Great Lakes Naval Training Center is home to the U.S. Navy's only Recruit Training Command. The largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training center in the Navy, the base includes 1,153 buildings on 1,628 acres and uses 50 miles of roadway to provide access to the Center's facilities.

 

Construction on Lackland Air Force Base began in 1941, and it was originally part of Kelly Field. One year later, it became an independent organization; the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center. In 1948, the facility was named Lackland AFB after Brigadier General Frank Lackland.   As a result of the Korean War, training populations at Lackland soared.

 

Few people know that the Mare Island Naval Shipyard was one of the first USMC recruit training camps (later Depots) - one of four set up by Major General Wlliam P. Biddle, Commandant of the Marine Corps.   The other three locations were at Philadelphia, Norfolk (later at Port Royal, South Carolina),  and Puget Sound, Washington.  Mare Island became the sole west coast depot during the following year, and east coast recruit training was shifted to Parris Island, South Carolina, in 1915.

 

from: wikipedia

Marines were first stationed on Parris Island in 1891, in the form of a small security detachment headed by First Sergeant Richard Donovan. His unit was attached to the Naval Station, Port Royal, the forerunner of Parris Island. Donovan's unit was highly commended for preserving life and property during hurricanes and tidal waves that swept over the island in 1891 and 1893.