— Graduation guides · Navy
Every sailor graduates at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois. Pass-in-Review has a ticket system and doors that close at 8:45 a.m., so read this before you book anything. Checked against official sources in September 2026.
— Questions families ask
Your recruit decides who attends. Submit guest names in the RTC guest ticketing app no later than the Friday before graduation; names sent Monday or later are not processed and those guests cannot get on base. You must enter the recruit's exact division number or the request is rejected. You get one email confirming receipt and a second, usually in week 8, when your recruit has picked the list and it is approved. Only the recruit can change the list, so mail corrections early and do not call to check. Every guest then picks up a free ticket in person at the Recruit Family Welcome Center inside the Navy Exchange at 2650 Green Bay Road, North Chicago, open 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. the day before and 5:30 to 8 a.m. on graduation day. Never go straight to the base without a ticket. Source
Everyone 18 and older shows a REAL ID, a current passport, a military ID or another combination the TSA accepts, both at ticket pickup and at the gate. RTC staff cannot advise on REAL ID rules, so check the TSA REAL ID FAQ before you travel. An expired passport is not on the list. Minors show a student ID, driver's permit, Social Security card or birth certificate. Drivers need license, registration and proof of insurance or a rental agreement, plus the graduation ticket, at every checkpoint. Source
The gate opens to guests at 6:30 a.m. and the ceremonial drill hall doors open at 7:00 a.m. All guests must be seated by 8:45 a.m., when the doors close and no further entry is allowed. Pass-in-Review starts at 9, the divisions arrive at 9:20, and it concludes at 10:30. That is the schedule printed on the guest ticket for the September 24, 2026 ceremony, so check the one on your own ticket at pickup. RTC says arrive at least an hour and a half early because you clear security at the gate and again at the visitor center. It is indoors, so weather does not change the plan. Walk-ins use Gate 8 beside the Metra station, which is also where hotel shuttles drop off. Source
A small purse or personal bag, a small diaper bag, a small camera bag, a personal wheelchair or walker. Strollers and car seats are allowed but discouraged. Not allowed: large bags, backpacks, luggage, posters, signs, banners, large tripods, gift bags of any size and flowers. Alcohol, drugs, knives and weapons are confiscated and the person is refused entry. Everyone goes through metal detectors and may be searched more than once. New graduates may not drive or ride a motorcycle. Source
Recruits get a short arrival call, may get one call halfway through, and otherwise write letters, answering only on Sunday mornings and federal holidays. That silence is normal. RTC's public information line is 833-330-6622 and general questions go to askmncc@navy.mil, but staff cannot release a recruit's status. RTC Public Affairs also cannot tell you when your sailor leaves after graduation; only your recruit knows their liberty and departure. For a true family emergency, the American Red Cross Hero Care line at 877-272-7337 passes the message through the command. Source
The Navy does not provide or endorse any hotel or shuttle, and there is no official lodging for guests. Naval Station Great Lakes MWR keeps a graduation resource page at navylifegl.com/rtc with hotel, transportation and restaurant help. The base is about 35 miles north of Chicago in North Chicago, Illinois. Ask your hotel whether it runs a shuttle to Gate 8, and remember you must stop at the welcome center in the Navy Exchange for tickets before the base. Source
Yes. RTC livestreams Pass-in-Review on Thursdays at 9 a.m. Central on its official Facebook page and YouTube channel, free. Anyone asking for a card number to watch is not official. Source
Often, yes. Sailors going to A school at Great Lakes usually transfer immediately after graduation. Those going to A school out of state may leave the following day. Ask about liberty and departure during their phone calls home, because RTC cannot tell you. Source
Request your Official Military Personnel File free from the National Personnel Records Center at vetrecs.archives.gov or by mailing Standard Form 180. It lists your training command and dates, which give you the company or division number. With that, scanned Great Lakes yearbooks, called The Keel, are searchable on the Internet Archive, and most companies have a Facebook reunion group named by year and company number. Source
The arrival call is only to say they made it. Officially, recruits write letters and can only answer on Sunday mornings and federal holidays, so the first letter with the division number and address usually lands in the second week. Parents in the Great Lakes groups report a postcard and a text with a QR code about a week after arrival. You need the exact division number for the graduation ticket app, so keep that first letter. Silence between letters is normal, and RTC staff cannot release a recruit's status. Source
RTC streams Pass-in-Review on its official Facebook page and YouTube channel every Thursday at 9 a.m. Central, and the video stays on both afterward. Search the RTC Great Lakes YouTube channel by graduation date. Recordings other parents post in groups are unofficial and often miss the moment you want. Source
Sandboxx is a paid third-party app that prints your letter and mails it to the base; it is optional, and stamped mail to the address in the first letter works the same. Recruits get letters through the week but can only write back on Sunday mornings, so do not read silence as a problem. Do not send packages, and never mail anything before you have the division address. Source
Every graduation photo becomes a numbered keepsake card, front and back, with the unit, the base and the date. You get a video and one page the whole family can open. Graduated a while ago? It is not too late.