The USAF Uses Huge Swords Fit For He-Man And The Thundercats To Honor Officers

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated Jan 13, 2020 12:51 AM EST

Social media is aflutter after Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the U.K. Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown from the opposition Labor Party, picked up a ceremonial mace in the House of Commons in protest of the country’s top leadership and their efforts to extract the country from the European Union. The gilded weapon represents royal authority and the House of Commons officially can’t hold formal debates unless it’s sitting there in its proper place. The act of symbolic defiance got Russell-Moyle booted from the chamber for the day.

But before any of us Americans have too much of a laugh at archaic British traditions, it’s worth noting that we have many of our own. The U.S. military alone has a whole collection of traditions and rituals, some old, some new, from challenge coins to the assignment of heraldry to re-enlistment ceremonies , and more. Some of these aren’t even that old. Case in point, the U.S. Air Force’s Order of the Sword and its ceremonial weapons, which typically look better suited to a pulp high fantasy novel, video game, or cartoons such as He-Man , She-Ra , or the ThunderCats than a modern-day military gathering.

Ostensibly, the Order, which awarded its first honor in 1967, is a way for Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) to recognize the work of commissioned officers that has benefited the Air Force’s enlisted corps. This all makes good sense and provides a good way to highlight officers engaging with their subordinates in positive and productive ways that should be a model for others across the service.

There are some reports that indicate the Order may have lost a sense of its original mission over the years, though, becoming more of an award that a select number of senior NCOs now increasingly hand out only to general officers at major commands as a matter of course. For instance, as of 2016, seven consecutive U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) commanders had received the accolade and it seemed highly unlikely that each one of them had made especially notable achievements with regards to their enlisted personnel.

Regardless, the ceremonies themselves, where officers typically receive a plaque or something similar, or even a framed sword, to mark their achievement, are, by far, the best-known aspect of the Order. Units keep much larger and gaudy swords – called Master Swords – on hand to mark these events.

These aren’t just huge swords like Claymores of the past, as you’ll see below.

The Air Force Special Operations Command Master Sword. , USAF

The Air Force Academy Master Sword., USAF

The Air Education and Training Command Master Sword., USAF

The Air Force Global Strike Command Master Sword., USAF

The Air Force Mobility Command Master Sword., USAF

The US Air Forces in Europe Master Sword., USAF

A cursory search around the internet has not provided a good explanation for who started the ritual within the ritual of the swords or why. Like any good tradition, the origins of the Order itself are murky.

Official Air Force news items marking the induction of new officers into the Order offer various descriptions, harkening back both to the Middle Ages and the Revolutionary War. When now-retired U.S. Air Force General Herbert Carlisle received his award in 2016, when he was head of Air Combat Command, the service gave this typical description :

“The Order of the Sword is the highest honor and tribute enlisted Airmen can bestow upon a commissioned officer. It is patterned after two orders of chivalry founded during the Middle Ages in Europe and still in existence today – the Royal Order of the Sword and the Swedish Military Order of the Sword. In 1522, King Gustavus the First, of Sweden, enjoined the noblemen he commissioned to appoint officers to serve him – accountants, builders, craftsmen, teachers, scribes and others responsible for conducting the ordinary daily affairs of the kingdom. The system worked so well it was incorporated into the Swedish army as a way to establish and maintain a cohesive, disciplined, well-trained force to protect lives and property in the kingdom. These ancient enlisted personnel would honor their leader and pledge their loyalty by presenting him with a sword.”

“The Order of the Sword is the highest honor and tribute enlisted Airmen can bestow upon a commissioned officer. It is patterned after two orders of chivalry founded during the Middle Ages in Europe and still in existence today – the Royal Order of the Sword and the Swedish Military Order of the Sword.

In 1522, King Gustavus the First, of Sweden, enjoined the noblemen he commissioned to appoint officers to serve him – accountants, builders, craftsmen, teachers, scribes and others responsible for conducting the ordinary daily affairs of the kingdom. The system worked so well it was incorporated into the Swedish army as a way to establish and maintain a cohesive, disciplined, well-trained force to protect lives and property in the kingdom. These ancient enlisted personnel would honor their leader and pledge their loyalty by presenting him with a sword.”

These traditions were then passed on to the U.S. military during the Revolutionary War by individuals who had served in the British military and by European allies. There’s only one problem, though. As others have rightly pointed out before , the origin stories that cite the U.K. Royal Order of the Sword and the Swedish Military Order of the Sword simply don’t make sense.

For one, there is simply no Royal Order of the Sword in the United Kingdom. The Swedish Military Order of the Sword is real, but didn’t exist until 1748, hundreds of years after King Gustavus I purportedly began the Medieval tradition, and hasn’t inducted any new members since 1975.

Furthermore, Prussian-born Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, better known by the title Baron von Steuben , is credited with formally establishing the U.S. military’s NCO corps as an advisor to the Continental Army and Chief of Staff to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War . His Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States , more commonly known as the “ Blue Book ,” remained the core U.S. military manual until 1812.

But if all of this backstory is overwrought and esoteric, it’s still nothing compared to the ceremonial swords that appear to be made for giants. If you have any stories of your own about the Order or have a better understanding of how it and its increasingly large and ornate blades came to be, please let us know in the comments!

US Air Force General Raymond Johns Jr, then Air Mobility Command commander, receives a slightly less gaudy framed sword after getting inducted into the Order of the Sword in 2012., USAF

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com

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作者：约瑟夫·特雷维西克

更新于美国东部时间2020年1月13日凌晨12:51。

英国工党布莱顿肯普敦选区议员劳埃德·罗素-莫伊尔在下议院拿起一根权杖，抗议英国最高领导层及其脱欧努力，此事在社交媒体上引发轩然大波。这根镀金权杖象征着王室权威，下议院只有在权杖摆放在议会大厅时才能举行正式辩论。罗素-莫伊尔的这一象征性挑衅行为导致他当天被驱逐出议会大厅。

不过，在我们美国人对英国古老的传统嗤之以鼻之前，值得一提的是，我们自己也有许多传统。仅美军就拥有一整套传统和仪式，从挑战币到纹章授予，再到续约仪式等等，既有古老的，也有新兴的。其中一些甚至并不算古老。例如，美国空军的“宝剑勋章”及其仪式用武器，这些武器看起来更像是通俗奇幻小说、电子游戏或《希曼》、《希瑞》或《霹雳猫》等动画片中的道具，而不是现代军事集会的装备。

表面上看，该勋章（于1967年首次颁发）是士官表彰军官为空军士官队伍做出贡献的一种方式。这合情合理，也为表彰那些以积极有效的方式与下属互动、为全军树立榜样的军官提供了很好的途径。

一些报告指出，多年来，该勋章可能已经偏离了其最初的宗旨，更像是少数高级士官例行公事般地颁发给主要司令部将领的奖项。例如，截至2016年，已有七位驻欧美国空军（USAFE）司令连续获得该勋章，但他们似乎不太可能在士官方面都取得了特别显著的成就。

无论如何，授勋仪式本身才是该勋章最广为人知的部分。在仪式上，军官通常会获颁奖牌或类似物品，甚至可能是装裱好的宝剑，以表彰他们的功绩。各部队还会备有更大更华丽的宝剑——称为“大师之剑”——用于纪念这些仪式。

正如你将在下文中看到的，这些不仅仅是像过去的大剑那样巨大的剑。

美国空军特种作战司令部大师剑。

美国空军学院大师剑。

美国空军教育训练司令部大师剑

美国空军全球打击司令部大师之剑。

美国空军机动司令部大师剑。

美国驻欧洲空军大师之剑。

在互联网上进行一番简单的搜索，并没有找到关于是谁在剑之仪式中创立了这一仪式，以及其原因的合理解释。如同任何优秀的传统一样，该教团本身的起源也扑朔迷离。

美国空军官方新闻稿在介绍新军官加入该勋章时，对勋章的描述各不相同，既有中世纪的，也有美国独立战争时期的。2016年，时任空战司令部司令的美国空军退役上将赫伯特·卡莱尔获颁该勋章时，空军给出的描述如下：

“宝剑勋章是空军士兵能授予军官的最高荣誉和敬意。它仿照中世纪欧洲创立并延续至今的两大骑士勋章——皇家宝剑勋章和瑞典军事宝剑勋章。1522年，瑞典国王古斯塔夫一世下令他委任的贵族任命官员为他效力，这些官员包括会计、建筑师、工匠、教师、抄写员以及其他负责王国日常事务的人员。这套制度运作良好，被纳入瑞典军队，用于建立和维护一支团结、纪律严明、训练有素的军队，以保护王国人民的生命财产安全。这些古代的士兵会向他们的领袖献上宝剑，以此表达敬意和忠诚。”

“宝剑勋章是空军士兵能给予军官的最高荣誉和敬意。它的模式仿照了中世纪欧洲创立并延续至今的两大骑士勋章——皇家宝剑勋章和瑞典军事宝剑勋章。”

1522年，瑞典国王古斯塔夫一世下令他委任的贵族们任命官员为他效力——包括会计、建筑工人、工匠、教师、抄写员以及其他负责王国日常事务的人员。这套制度运作良好，被纳入瑞典军队，以此建立并维持一支团结、纪律严明、训练有素的军队，以保护王国人民的生命财产安全。这些古老的士兵会向他们的领袖献上宝剑，以此表达敬意和效忠。

这些传统在独立战争期间由曾在英国军队服役的人员和欧洲盟国传给了美国军队。然而，问题在于，正如其他人之前正确指出的那样，那些提及英国皇家宝剑勋章和瑞典军事宝剑勋章起源的说法根本站不住脚。

首先，英国根本没有皇家宝剑勋章。瑞典军事宝剑勋章确实存在，但直到1748年才成立，比据称古斯塔夫一世国王开创中世纪传统的时间晚了数百年，而且自1975年以来就没有吸纳过新成员。

此外，出生于普鲁士的弗里德里希·威廉·冯·施托伊本（Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben），更为人熟知的头衔是冯·施托伊本男爵，他作为大陆军的顾问和美国独立战争期间乔治·华盛顿将军的参谋长，正式建立了美国军队的士官制度。他制定的《美国军队秩序与纪律条例》（Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States），俗称“蓝皮书”，一直是美国军队的核心手册，直至1812年。

即便这些背景故事过于夸张晦涩，也远不及那些仿佛为巨人打造的仪式用剑来得震撼。如果您有关于圣殿骑士团的故事，或者对它及其日益庞大华丽的剑刃的由来有更深入的了解，欢迎在评论区分享！

美国空军上将雷蒙德·约翰斯（Raymond Johns Jr.），时任空军机动司令部司令，于2012年入选美国空军剑勋章，获赠一把略显朴素的剑框佩剑。

联系作者：joe@thedrive.com

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