LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The Air Combat Command enlisted Airmen and Command Chief Master Sgt. Marty Klukas officially invited their commander Gen. William M. Fraser III to an Order of the Sword Ceremony in his honor Aug. 11, 2011.
The Order of the Sword is the highest honor the enlisted force can bestow upon a leader. During a gathering of command section directorates in the Headquarters ACC building, the command sections most junior Airman, Senior Airman Iris Cruz, presented General Fraser with a commemorative invitation to the induction ceremony to be held Sept. 12, 2011 at the Embassy Suites in Hampton, Va.
In humbly accepting the nomination, General Fraser expressed his gratitude and thanks to the enlisted men and women of ACC.
"I am speechless - it's nothing I ever would have imagined," he said. "I am deeply honored to have this opportunity, but it's really about all of you. So thank you very, very much. This is huge - it really is."
General Fraser's first priority is to care for and prepare Airmen to meet the nation's demands. Just months after assuming command, he instituted the ACC Comprehensive Airman Fitness program to ensure Airmen have a set of tools to maintain mental, social, physical and spiritual stability and enhance positive behaviors.
Often General Fraser recognized the "strength and dedication" of the Airmen and the criticality of the individuals to mission success, regularly communicating to Air Force leaders the importance of harnessing the "professionalism, creativity and innovation" of those Airmen to meet strategic demands of overseas contingency operations.
Finally, as a firm believer in meeting combatant commander requirements, General Fraser consistently pursues additional training opportunities, joint service endeavors, and aircraft upgrades to ensure ACC Airmen are trained and equipped to meet high operations tempos and integrate capabilities in joint environments.
The Order of the Sword is patterned after two orders of chivalry founded during the Middle Ages in Europe, the Royal Order of the Sword and the Swedish Military Order of the Sword, both of which are still in existence. The noncommissioned officer corps was established early in the twelfth century. In 1522, King Gustavus I of Sweden bid his commissioned noblemen to appoint officers to serve him. The people became noncommissioned officers who would honor their leader and pledge their loyalty by ceremoniously presenting him with a sword. The sword, a symbol of truth, justice, and power rightfully used, served as a token for all to see and know that here was a leader.
This tradition came to the United States as early as the Revolutionary War, and after years in dormancy, was revived in the 1860s when Gen. Robert E. Lee was presented a sword by his command.