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).
Warrior knife
The Warrior knife was designed by custom knife maker, Vietnam combat veteran, and close combat instructor Bob Taylor and Hwarang-do expert Randy Wanner. The blade is distinctive in that the entire rear portion of the blade has a serrated edge, that was added at the suggestion of Wanner's Hwarang-do student Michael D. Echanis and is the reason why the knife has the informal name "Echanis' Warrior". Al Mar was an edged-weapons specialist in the U.S. Army Special Forces, a 5th degree black belt in Judo when he started Al Mar Knives in 1978 and began work on the famous and highly sought after "Warrior" knife. In his book, Battle Blades, Greg Walker[3] refers to the Al Mar Warrior as, "perhaps the ultimate in battle-blade design.