Nearly 60 vehicles were lined up at noon Wednesday at the main gate of the Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago as guards searched them, underscoring heightened security after Tuesday’s terrorism attacks.
About a dozen security personnel dressed in camouflage and using metal detectors carefully checked all visitors and vehicles at the Sheridan Road entrance to the Navy’s sole training facility in the United States.
Most of the people entering the base were military personnel going to work, Lt. Cmdr. John Wallach, a spokesman, said.
“We haven’t stopped training, so all of our instructors, both at our boot camp and at the Service School Command, are essential employees,” he said.
Armed military personnel also were stationed outside secondary entrances around the base, home to about 20,000 military personnel, including 10,000 recruits, according to Wallach.
Another 4,500 civilian employees with “non-essential” roles were evacuated Tuesday and asked to stay home Wednesday as the high-alert security measures were implemented on orders from the White House.
All base employees were expected to be allowed to return to work Thursday, but the extra security precautions will remain in effect until further notice, Wallach said.
“We take our direction from high authority on the threat level we set here,” he said.
President Bush ordered all U.S. military bases to enact high-alert procedures at military installations across the nation shortly after Tuesday’s attacks.
As an additional precaution, special shuttle services were being used Wednesday to transport military personnel around the 16,000-acre base that borders Lake Michigan, Wallach said.
Buses for personnel living at Ft. Sheridan in Highland Park, Glenview and other nearby locations made pickups at Burkey Mall Navy Exchange on Green Bay Road in North Chicago, Wallach said.
Non-essential buildings were shut down Tuesday and remained closed Wednesday, including the Navy Exchange and Commissary shopping areas.
Wallach said the public would not be allowed onto the base for ceremonies planned for Thursday and Friday for graduating recruits and reservists.
The annual North Chicago Navy Day community celebration, scheduled for Friday, has been cancelled, he said.
“As a matter of policy, additional details regarding security posture at the base will not be discussed,” the Navy said in a prepared statement shortly after the heightened precautions were announced.
