Behind these gates in Northeast Philadelphia, more than 1,100 civilians and military personnel play an integral part in keeping the U.S. safe. Welcome to NAVSUP Weapons System Support.

"We like to say here in Philadelphia, we keep 'em flying," Capt. Tony Bannister, director of aviation operations at NAVSUP Weapons System Support, said.

The 250th birthdays of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are coming up this year. The Navy's turning 250 on Oct. 13 and the Marines the following month. Celebrations will take over the city beginning next week, but before that, CBS News Philadelphia went inside the Navy installation in Northeast Philly to discuss its storied legacy in keeping the country safe.

"We do all the contracting for those parts," Capt. Dan Metz, chief of staff, said, "and those components that are keeping our airplanes flying, our ships steaming and our subs working. We manage an inventory, globally, of $43 billion, and we have annual sales to the fleet over $7 billion."

The mission has called Northeast Philadelphia home since the 1940s. Before that, the Navy Yard. It's a legacy that spans more than a century.

"Whenever the president or the secretary of defense calls and says, 'Hey, we have something we need to handle,'" John Tantoco, a stricken aircraft manager with the Navy, said. "Philadelphians will be a direct part of that because we are the only people that do the aviation supply for the U.S. Navy."

Inside the installation's museum, which is not open to the public, the work of the past is on display.

"It's important for our folks here to see some of the stuff they actually manage," Tantoco said. "We manage ejection seats here."

From a plane part used in World War I to a flight suit worn in World War II and the Korean War by naval aviators.

"You can see that they had all sorts of equipment they had to carry on them in case they got shot down and had to survive either on water or on land," Tantoco said.

Come next week, Philadelphia will host the Navy and Marine Corps' 250th birthday celebrations. A feat reached in part by the men and women who work here.

"The work that we do is significant," Bannister said. "Without these men and women, dedicated professionals, military and civilian, we would not be able to fly airplanes in the Navy."