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The Order of the Sword is an honor awarded within the U.S. Air Force. It is defined in the Airman's Guide by Boone Nicolls as a "special program where noncommisioned officers of a command recognize individuals they hold in high esteem and wish to honor. Those selected for induction are usually honored during a formal ceremony at a dining-in."
Several honorees have been controversial, including Gen Merrill McPeak and Gen Robert H. Foglesong.
Various webpages originating with the U.S. Air Force claim an ancient origin for this order:
The Order of the Sword recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the enlisted corps. Only seven other individuals have been so honored since 1978. The ceremonial presentation was adopted from the Royal Order of the Sword and passed to the United States during the Revolutionary War. However, it lay dormant until it was reinstituted in its current form in 1967.
The original order of the sword was patterned after two orders of chivalry founded during the Middle Ages in Europe: the (British) Royal Order of the Sword and the Swedish Military Order of the Sword, still in existence today. In 1522, King Gustavus I of Sweden ordered the noblemen commissioned by him to appoint officers to serve him, and these people became known as the noncommissioned officers.
Any "(British) Royal Order of the Sword" appears unknown to relevant reference works (such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica), and Britain was not a single kingdom in the Middle Ages. A "Swedish Military Order of the Sword" matching the description is not mentioned in Swedish reference works. The Royal Swedish Order of the Sword, a pure state decoration, not an independent order of chivalry, was founded only in 1748 by king Frederick I (two centuries after the reign of Gustavus I of Sweden), and all grades were limited to commissioned officers until 1850, when an affiliated decoration was established for non-commissioned officers. The Swedish order was made dormant in 1975, and as such it is no longer awarded.
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