Naval Air Station Glenview

Naval Air Station Glenview (NASG)
 

For more details about NASG, visit HangarOneFoundation.  The public is invited to visit the Naval Air Station Museum located at 2040 Lehigh Avenue in Glenview.  The museum is open Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.  Phone: 847-657-0000

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Curtiss Air Field

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The base, dedicated as Curtiss Field on October 20, 1929, was originally built by the Curtiss Flying Service to be the hub of Chicago's air service. When the field was dedicated as Curtiss Field on October 20, 1929, Curtiss Field featured the largest and most innovative hanger of its time, Hangar One.  It was built at a cost of approximately $3 million (about $44.8 million in today's money). It was considered one of the finest airports in the Midwest.

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U.S. Navy

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Between World War I and World War II, the U.S. Navy established a series of Naval Reserve Air Bases where reservists initially flew and maintained seaplane from shore facilities on Lake Michigan and a small facility at the Naval Training Station Great Lakes.  To accommodate newer and larger aircraft enter the Fleet in the 1930s, the NRAB was relocated to Curtiss-Reynolds Airport/Curtiss Field.  The official dedication as NRAB Chicago was August 18, 1937. 

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Preparing for War

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For the next three years, the air station's primary role was elimination training for students seeking appointments as Naval Aviation Cadets (NAVCADs).

 

By 1941, with the United States' entry into World War II appearing imminent, NRAB Chicago became the first base (of several bases across the country) in a new program to provide primary flight training.  To accommodate this new purpose, in 121 work days, 1,300,000 square feet of new concrete was poured for runways, taxiways and ramps.  New hangars and other administrative and support buildings were constructed and completed by late November 1942. On 1 January 1943, NRAB Chicago was redesignated as NAS Chicago. By 1944, "Chicago" was deleted from the air station's title and the installation renamed NAS Glenview.

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Wartime Training

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Nearly 9,000 aviation cadets for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard received their primary flight training at NAS Glenview during World War II, which represented over 800,000 flight hours and over 2 million takeoffs and landings. Later during the war, NAS Glenview also hosted advanced training in Fleet combat aircraft, primarily for carrier qualification in Lake Michigan aboard the Chicago-homeported training aircraft carriers. 

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Post-World War II through the Cold War Era

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Following the end of World War II, NAS Glenview discontinued its role as a primary training base and became headquarters for the newly formed Naval and Marine Reserve AviationTraining Command in 1946. In addition, NAS Glenview was involved in a wide range of activity.  For more information

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Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)

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Towards the end and following the end of the Cold War, BRAC Commissions were established to shed what the Department of Defense and the U.S. Congress considered to be excess military units and infrastructure. The 1993 BRAC identified NAS Glenview for closure no later than September 30, 1995, along with corresponding inactivation or transfer of its assigned squadrons and other units.

 

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