The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday/Trivia

Trivia

 * The level's title is derived from the motto of the U.S. Navy SEALs "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday".
 * In the art book, it is stated that originally there were plans for a campaign level that had the player controlling a U.S. Navy SEAL team member, leading to the inspiration of this level, and oil rig takedowns are something real SEALs train for. Also, the infiltration method was via SDVs. It is very possible that some of the TF141 members are SEALs themselves.
 * This is one of the two levels where you go underwater, this one by design. The other one is Endgame when your boat goes through the rapids and down the waterfall.
 * As a possible nod to the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series, one of the TF141 members that assists in this section has the callsign "Boomer," the same name as a SEAL team member from the series, along with "Jester," another reference as well.

Underwater

 * The guard by the railing near the beginning has only 1 HP. It is possible to kill him by hitting him anywhere with any weapon, or even directly with a grenade, though this will result in the mission failing. If the player gets close enough by sneaking up behind him, one of the player's team members would take him out for you.
 * Whilst under the oil rig, the player can see many fish swimming past. If they look closely, the fish will actually swim through the pipes.
 * When the player reaches the guard, Soap says "In position. On your go." Sometimes he'll say, "We'll take them out at the same time...on your go." Which is odd, Considering the fact that either Robot or Zach takes out the Guard and Soap Spawns on the second platform.
 * The two SDV "drivers" show different signs to each other. While one shows the "Ok / Is everything OK?" sign, the other shows thumb up which means "Dive out".

Lower Levels

 * Soap tells the player to take out the guard nearest to them, and that he is in position. However, swimming over to the TF141 member closest to the enemy guard reveals that it is not Soap and instead Zach, as shown when the player is helped up. Instead, Soap spawns when the player is helped up by the two other TF141 members.
 * When fellow Task Force 141 members help the player out of the water after removing the guard, it is unknown how you get out of your scuba gear, or if you even remove it before you move out to secure the hostages.
 * When the player has killed the guard, the water level suddenly rises. They can no longer dive under the floor afterwards.
 * The soldier that the player drags underwater and kills always has the same model, while the one opposite him will always be different. Likewise, the soldier having a smoke while leaning over the rails will always be the same.
 * After killing the guard who is leaning over the balcony, go to the opposite side from where he was standing, look down and you can look down at the water where he fell and see him laying dead on top of the water as if he hit solid ground. However, after a short while he will sink below the water and disappear.
 * When starting the level, there will be two randomly generated Task Force 141 soldiers. They will stay at the bottom, but when the player breaches the first room and then goes back down, they will have disappeared.
 * Sometimes if the player sprints ahead of MacTavish, they can run straight up to the Russian leaning over the balcony and he will run off. He will do this even if the player sneaks up on him before Soap and the team get there, otherwise they will shoot him.
 * If the player, after watching the helicopter, goes to the breached room and knifes the television, it will fail the player, with the statement, "you alerted the enemy."

Middle Levels

 * If the player alerts the helicopter that is seen patrolling the perimeter, it will spin up its guns, and they will fail the mission and receive the message "You have alerted the enemy - the hostages have been executed." Oddly enough, if the player manages to hit the chopper with the M203 Grenade Launcher, it will burst into flames and crash into the sea, though the player will still be able to continue the mission without penalty.
 * The body on which the player plants the C4 explosive is scripted to lie in that location and is dead as soon as the player breaches the room.
 * When the player detonates the C4, the other soldiers in the room are still in one piece, which is odd because in real life they would be blown to pieces.
 * After the player has planted the C4 following the second breach, the hostages can be seen being escorted downstairs. The hostages then go downstairs where the player can't follow them. If the player tries to keep the hostages on screen while planting the C4 and then waits inside the room, they would see the hostages magically disappear when the enemies approach the room. In the PS3 version, if they are in your line of sight the entire time, the mission will fail when the C4 is detonated.
 * During certain breaches, it is possible to shoot the knife-wielding Russian so that the knife will float above the dead soldier.
 * When the player climbs up the platform after planting the C4 before Soap does and goes prone, he'll be stuck behind the player and stay standing.
 * it is also possible to breach weilding an AT4 although you will be restarted at the last checkpoint for killing a hostage

Compromised

 * Soap starts the mission with an MP5K with Red Dot Sight and Silencer like the others, but when setting up the ambush of the Russian patrol he uses an M4A1 SOPMOD with Grenade Launcher and Red Dot Sight.
 * When the Little Bird comes to attack the player and their comrades after troops rope in, it is possible to shoot down the Little Bird with an RPG, M203, AT4 or Stinger.
 * If the player manages to destroy the Little Bird with a rocket, Ghost remarks with "Nice shot, Roach." Sometimes he'll say, "Enemy helicopter has been neutralized."
 * If the player ignores the enemy helicopter when it attacks, it will continue to pursue all the way to the top deck, providing the player stays in its spotlight. If the player evades its light, it will stay on lower decks searching. It will instantly disappear when the player breaches the final room.
 * The seagulls flying around the area cannot be killed.
 * It is also interesting to notice that when you breach the room and plant the c4 on the soldiers body, watch soap all the time. When he goes to the ladder, run infront of him and prone where he is scripted to prone and watch him, he will have the MP5K, then turn away and look at him again, he will have the M4A1.

Top Deck

 * The smokescreen will not disappear until the enemies are all dead. The enemies will throw smoke grenades until they are killed. On Veteran difficulty however the smoke screen would not dissipate even after all the enemies are killed. It only disappears after the player has breached the room.
 * In the firefight with the smokescreens, the player is not allowed to breach the doors until all outside hostiles have been killed.
 * The player can sprint through the smokescreen to the left door, and just by killing some enemies with a shotgun or M203 (about 4 or 5) they can breach that door without having to kill all the enemies, but they must rush to that door.
 * After you breach the last room, if the player shoots the barrels and make them explode it will say "Mission Failed: Set Off Explosives" and behind the words you will see a lot of explosions.
 * When the player is hit by an enemy that is nearby in the smokescreen, they can see that they have no Thermal Sight, though they can still be able to see the player.
 * It is possible to get out of the map in this area. After killing all of the enemies, head to the right side of the deck. There is a ladder leaning against a storage container. While it is difficult to get to the top of the container, it is still possible. Once the player has reached the top, jump over the fence and the player is out of map.

Extraction

 * The player boards the right side of the Little Bird. At the start of the next mission, the player has switched sides.
 * The player can't switch weapons once they are on the Little Bird.
 * Ghost will not get on the Little Bird with Roach and MacTavish, but after reaching The Gulag he gets off another Little Bird.
 * This is the only mission in which the Marines are actually seen, as they rope down a helicopter to disarm the SAM sites and rescue the hostages. They all wear the Army Combat Uniform, however, as opposed to the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform. This was likely done as a memory reduction
 * All of the Marines use M16A4's, this is accurate as this is the standard rifle for the United States Marine Corps.
 * Of the two pilots in your helicopter at the end of the level, the pilot on Soap's side, the side on which you are supposed to sit, has the model of Lt. Volker from the level "Shock and Awe" in CoD4, whereas the other has the model of Captain Pelayo, the female pilot you rescue also in "Shock and Awe".
 * The two pilots at the end have enlisted ranks; this is inaccurate, as pilots are either officers or warrant officers.
 * If the player looks at the soldiers riding on the Little Birds as the mission ends, the player can see they are character models of the Army Rangers instead of the TF141 operators.
 * If the player looks at the pilots of the Little Birds, they have no heat signature on the thermal sight.
 * Sometimes, one of the pilot can be called Pvt. Roycewicz, like in CoD4, but if the pilot is named Pvt. Roycewicz, it will be a female pilot.

Miscellaneous

 * It is strange that Russian soldiers take their own people hostage, although they claim themselves Ultranationalists.
 * The player's team (Team 1) is launched from the dry deck shelter (DDS) of the USS Chicago (SSN-721) while Team 2 is launched from the USS Dallas (SSN-700). Both are Los Angeles-class submarines. In the present day, the Dallas is indeed a DDS-capable submarine but the Chicago is not. Of course, by the year 2016 (when the game takes place), it is possible that the Chicago could be converted into a DDS host ship. Also of note: during the mission briefing, the Chicago's DDS is erroneously shown fitted in front of the sub's sail structure. However, in the actual mission, the DDS modules are correctly configured aft of the sail on both subs.
 * The submarines USS Chicago and USS Dallas were featured in Tom Clancy novels Red Storm Rising and The Hunt for Red October, respectively.
 * The Russian helicopter actually is a Little Bird, which are used only by U.S. Special Ops forces, although the helicopter also sometimes is used by other Special Operation Forces. The British "SAS" and the Danish "Jægerkorpset" use them, as an example.
 * Team One is comprised of Soap, Ghost, Roach, and Peasant.


 * Peasant always carries a MP5K with Red Dot Sight and silencer, but sometimes it has red camouflage.
 * If Peasant dies when the player sees an enemy helicopter the second time and you are on a lower deck, a soldier will replace him. He carries an M14 EBR.
 * Team Two, which comprises of Robot, Zach, and two other soldiers, disappear after rescuing the second group of hostages directly after you plant the C4. However, two Zodiac boats carrying what appears to be the freed hostages, can be seen leaving the oil rig to the player's left immediately after ascending to Level 2 (the level where you have to take out the Little Bird) from the stairs. It is most likely this is Team Two.
 * The soldiers' names will be different from this level to "The Gulag".
 * The ocean colors and design are the same as the blue tiger camouflage.
 * The M4 SOPMOD and the SCAR-H Silenced w/ Thermal Sight both lose their respective silencer after detonating the C4. However, if the player exchanges one of these weapons for another, and picks it up again after detonating the C4, they will retain their silencers.
 * A PP2000 with a Thermal Scope can be found in this level, though it's not an attachment in multiplayer.
 * It is possible to find an Intervention with a Thermal Scope. However, it is not advisable to use it during the smokescreen firefight due to its large zoom. It can still be useful to take out the enemies in the windows, however.


 * If the Intervention is equipped during the final breach, the breaching animation will be different, spending less time planting the charge and a longer slow-motion time.
 * In this mission, White Tape Camouflage can be found.
 * The "breaching charge" used is actually a Frame Charge, which is typically used to blast holes in walls or blow out windows. An actual Breaching Charge used by Special Forces is a small pack of plastic explosive on the end of a stick or a frail rod. When used, it is leaned against a door with the explosive near the middle to clear the doorway evenly. Strangely, such a tactic was discarded more than a decade ago when breaching rounds were found more favorable. On rare occasions, real Breaching Charges were effectively used as door traps.
 * In Multiplayer, the Navy SEALs' faction borrows Task Force 141's character models from this mission.
 * In reality, the Sixth Fleet operates in the Mediterranean Sea, not in the Pacific Ocean as depicted in the game.
 * As of today, U.S.S. Chicago and U.S.S. Dallas are not part of the Sixth Fleet.
 * At the very end on the helipad, the Little Bird has the words "No Fear" written on its nose.
 * SPAS-12s with Arctic Camo can be found.
 * You can find a M14 EBR and four Claymores that you can use in a secret room that the developers were thinking you couldn't find. It's very hard to explain but jump on the railings to your left before you get on the Little Bird, simply drop down on top of the railings or you'll die. At the lowest point, you'll find the room. After that, kill yourself since you cannot go anywhere on the floor... oddly, the seagulls disappear when they fly underwater...