Culture of the United States Marine Corps
Two styles of swords are worn by Marines. The Marine Corps officers' sword is a Mameluke Sword, similar to the Persian shamshir presented to Lt. Presley O'Bannon after the Battle of Derna during the First Barbary War. After its adoption in 1825 and initial distribution in 1826, Mameluke Swords have been worn by Marine officers ever since, except during the period 1859–1875, when they were required to wear the Army's Model 1850-foot officers' sword. Upon returning to the traditional sword, many officers gave their Army swords to their senior noncommissioned officer, creating the basis for the NCO sword. Generally, Marines are the only branch where enlisted members regularly carry a sword (the Army authorizes platoon and first sergeants to carry a Model 1840 sword during some ceremonies, while the Chief of Naval Operations authorized Chief Petty Officers and above to carry an optional ceremonial cutlass with dress uniforms in 2010).
List of United States Marine Corps battalions
A Marine infantry battalion is usually organized into three rifle companies, a weapons company, and a headquarters and service company. The rifle company has a company headquarters, three rifle platoons, with three rifle squads each, and a weapons platoon with medium machineguns, mortars, and assault weapons sections. The weapons company includes a company headquarters, a heavy machinegun platoon, an 81mm mortar platoon, and an antiarmor platoon. Sometimes, the commander will mix these into Combined Anti-Armor Teams. The headquarters and service company includes all command, administration, intelligence, operations, logistics, and communication Marines and equipment, as well as the battalion's Scout Sniper platoon and Medical platoon.