MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Today's wars are fought using every available resource our armed forces can provide. Marines no longer send in ground troops alone.

Very few, if any, large-scale missions are accomplished without air support. Air support can only be provided if aircraft are properly maintained and ordnance is available. Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, has been providing that support since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"We've been the aviation combat element for this operation since the beginning. Anything that they need to go out there and perform their job in Iraq is MALS-16's job to facilitate. We provide aircraft parts, weapons, ammunition, equipment, uniforms, you name it," said Master Sgt. Jerome Johnson, operations chief, MALS-16.

"You can't fly without supply," added Chief Warrant Officer 3 Edward D. Brantley, squadron support division officer-in-charge, MALS-16.

"In the rear, we only support rotor wing aircraft, but in Iraq we support every kind of aircraft we've got out there," he said.

MALS-16 is on a constant in-squadron rotation to Iraq until they are scheduled to be relieved of their mission by MALS-26, MAG-26, 2nd MAW, Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., in March of 2005. Until then, the squadron must be augmented or supported as much as possible.

"Out of the 250 Marines we sent, a little over 100 were activated reservists," said the Mansfield, Texas, native.

"In addition to supply and logistics, we provide Marines for (an Iraqi) guard duty task, where they guard the perimeters of the base (to which they are assigned)," said Johnson.

Staff Sgt. Jaime Galindo, supply staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge, MALS 16, says that annual training made duty in Iraq seem routine. "The environment may be different, but the job is the same. The tempo is a lot faster, but we train for it," said Galindo.

Galindo wasn't the only one who felt the job was routine. "We continually train in preparation of a possible deployment. I feel that I was ready for Iraq," agreed Sgt. Tom Y. Yabe, aviation ordnance technician, MALS-16.

The squadron participates in Exercise Desert Talon and the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, annually at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.

"It's around-the-clock (operations). Marines will have a day shift, evening shift, and graveyard shift in the same day. The aircraft are flying all the time," said Johnson.

Marines from MALS-16 are participating in WTI, and will continue to train in Yuma until mid-November to maintain their mission readiness.

Although most of the squadron is seeing a lot of time in Iraq, many of the MALS-16 Marines have a positive outlook on the experience.

"Most of us were really excited. We're always told that even in the rear you are doing your part, but being in the front, actually participating-- it gives you a real morale high," said Yabe.

"This is history. In 20 to 30 years, I'll be able to tell my kids I was there and that I was a part of this," added the Renton, Wash., native.