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 crew-served weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
While the general understanding is that crew-serve weapons, unlike individual service weapons, require more than one person to operate them, there are important exceptions in the case of both squad automatic weapons (SAW) and special application rifles (SAR). Within the Table of Organization and Equipment for both the United States Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, these two classes of weapons are understood to be crew-serve, as the operator of the weapon (identified as a marksman or as a SAW gunner) has an assistant, who carries additional ammunition and associated equipment, acts as a spotter, and is also fully qualified in the operation of the weapon.