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Naval “Great Mistakes” by the Lake
“A” School Blues — Cruisebook #13
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There are good reasons why former, and perhaps present day squids refer to Naval Station Great Lakes, in North Chicago, Illinois, as “Great Mistakes.”
First of all, the base’s location alone speaks something erroneous about the place. If you examine a map, you will find Illinois to be a Midwestern state, not located on any coast. It is decidedly, perhaps permanently landlocked. True, the base itself is situated upon Lake Michigan, a vast body of water navigable by warships, and could theoretically be invaded by the marauding Canadian Navy, who prowls the St. Lawrence seaway. But last I checked, the mission of the United States Navy is to ensure freedom of the seas, not protect us from crazy Canuck pirates up north.
Of course, that objective may have changed under the present President, who considers Canadians to be menacing foreign aliens, illegally occupying American sovereign territory.
Why the Navy maintains its major training facility and only boot camp where no ocean exists, while closing other boot camps in places like San Diego, where warships access the open sea, is one of life’s great nautical mysteries, right up there with a seagoing plesiosaur…
