MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Sounds of cloths sliding over smooth metal and the clinking of small parts being assembled into larger, more deadly weapons could be heard from a hallway in the armory of Marine Aviation Logistic Squadron 16.

With each clink and scrape of metal on metal, the ordnance Marines help keep the squadrons of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing mission effective when it comes to putting rounds down range.

“Aviation is big in the Marine Corps,” said Sgt. Andrew Gendro, the armory chief with the MALS-16 ordnance shop and a Fall City, Wash., native. “Without ordnance though, it would be just a bunch of aircraft flying around.”

Ordnance Marines handle all weaponry needs for every squadron. They handle orders for weapons, flares, rounds and missiles. If it comes from the muzzle of a weapon on an aircraft from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., it goes through MALS-16 ordnance.

“Our main mission is to support the flight line,” said Cpl. Danny J. Price, the munitions work center supervisor with MALS-16 and Bay Minette, Ala., native. “The squadrons send us orders for munitions, I take their request, I go and personally get what they need, and then I transport it where it needs to go.”

The ordnance shop handles about up to 10,000 rounds and 300 flares on a regular order, added Price.

“We have the only aviation armory on base,” said Gendro. “The armory has around 400 weapons in it, which we maintain constant physical security of.”

When squadron personnel need weapons for a training event or for deployment, they come to Gendro.

“The squadrons send me their requests for weapons,” said Gendro. “I go to the armory, pick up the weapons asked for, and then take them where they need to go. Once the squadron is done with their training or mission, they bring them back, and the weapons are put right back in the armory.”

Marines in ordnance work closely with weapons and dangerous explosives, so attention to detail and unit cohesion is crucial.

 “We work with explosives,” said Gendro. “So we have to be able to trust each other and communicate well. The ordnance family is very tightly knit. We watch each other’s back.”

Though one Marine may work in the armory and the other in another portion of the shop, the brotherhood is clearly visible. The field itself is small but each Marine feels a close bond to the others.