S.O.G.

"Looks don't count for shit in the jungle. This is 'Nam, baby!"

- Frank Woods to Alex Mason

"S.O.G." is the 5th single player level in Call of Duty: Black Ops

Overview
In the beginning of this mission, Jason Hudson informs the player that Woods has arrived. The player then steps outside of their tent to see many helicopters, a motley crew of UH-1 &quot;Hueys,&quot; CH-47 &quot;Chinooks&quot; and CH-46 &quot;Sea Knights&quot; flying overhead. As Woods approaches, they make jokes about their appearances and walk over to a Jeep. Woods then informs the player of how and when MACV-SOG was created. As they finish their conversation, bombs explode and their Jeep is overturned, causing Hudson to become disoriented. The player then carries him to a bunker and the actual gameplay begins. One section involves the player crawling along trenches with enemy flamethrowers blazing overhead. At one point a NVA soldier jumps on the player and the player must repeatedly press the use button to punch him and pull the pin of a grenade on his webbings. Use of Fugassi Mines (napalm barrels armed with explosives) to hold back the North Vietnamese Army are demonstrated by Woods, the player can then choose to use it themselves - 2 detonators can be pick up along the path, once the cue is display press the button for a well-timed detonation, frying lots of NVA troops; if you failed to execute a well-timed detonation, you will not fail the mission, just more NVA troops to plow through or shoot at you, whichever comes first. Follow the path up to the defensive position and not long after 3 T-55 tanks rolls over the hill and advancing towards the line; you must pick up a M72 LAW to deal with them. One hit will finish a T-55. When this part of the mission is done, follow Woods to another line under heavy assault.

The player then fights his way down a hill to a weapons bunker and then to the lower ridge to roll 2 drums of napalm into the trench at the bottom. Many players get stuck at this point, as the objective is not clearly defined. However, listening to the conversation Woods has with a pinned down soldier makes everything clear. Towards the bottom of the hill are two barrels stood on their ends. The player must walk up behind them and press the action button, prompting a short clip where Mason stabs the barrel, scrapes his knife on the top to ignite the napalm, then rolls the barrel down the hill to prevent the NVA from continuing their attack. Until you complete this, the enemy on this front will keep coming. On lower difficulty, it is possible to run past the enemy and to the right, which skips the barrel objective and allows you to move on to the next hill.

Upon completing this, the player must climb another hill while friendly mortars rain down around you. Towards the top of the hill you have the opportunity to pick up an AK-47 with a Flamethrower. Just as they've made it to the top of the hill, the player will be knocked over from an exploding shell and will only have a few seconds after recovering to save Woods from a NVA soldier with a Python.

thumb|300px|left|Start of "S.O.G." The player then runs through a tunnel, to a jeep with a mounted TOW Missile launcher that works similarly to Valkyrie Rockets. The player must fight enemies with an M60 machine gun and a China Lake grenade launcher automatically given to him upon entering the jeep, using the TOW to destroy T-55 tanks when they show up. Destroying the six tanks with only six TOW rockets will reward the player with the achievement/trophy "Tough Economy".

Starting Loadout
The player is carrying a Python throughout the level, using it to save Woods.

Found in Level
The following weapons can be found with and without attachments.

Trivia

 * The Napalm barrel that Woods will try to ignite will not blow up;instead, it will just simply roll on towards the NVA soldiers. It will only ignite once the player has kicked the remaining barrels down the hill.
 * Right when you recover from the jeep crash in the beginning of the level you can see a shirtless marine running with the other marines but later on you can see a NVA soldier kicking him.
 * At the beginning of the level when hearing the radio, the announcer identifies himself as Army Specialist Zac Johnson. This is a reference to "Apocalypse Now ," where the radio announcer also identifies himself as Army Specialist Zac Johnson. The song that begins playing is "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
 * Call of Duty: Black Ops is the only game in the series to feature a weapon jamming as Frank Woods' M16 jams just before he can shoot an NVA soldier in the back. This could be a reference to the M16 being notorious for constantly jamming on American soldiers during the Vietnam War.
 * Although the American soldiers fighting to defend Khe Sanh are U.S. Marines, indicated by Woods addressing them as Marines throughout the mission, if the player looks closely at a Marine's left breast tab, it will read "U.S. ARMY," indicating the soldiers are in the US Army instead of the USMC.
 * S.O.G. is one of four missions to feature the Python. The other missions are "Executive Order," "Victor Charlie" and "Payback." The Python seems to be Mason's sidearm of choice as he is the only one in the entire campaign to shoot one, although an unusable Snubbed-Nose Python can be seen wielded by the VC Bookie in "Payback"
 * There are various glitches while in the trenches. Including Woods' and Hudson's movements being completely in sync, and Hudson appearing out of nowhere, as if it looked like he had super speed,
 * The part where the player pulls the pin on the grenade of the NVA soldier is possibly a homage to a similar scene in Call Of Duty 3 where you are attached by a Nazi soldier and you need to pull the pin on a grenade on his belt and push him away from you.
 * As Woods & Bowman ignore Hudson when he introduces himself to either, Hudson seems to be deeply bothered by their behavior towards him.
 * The Marines in Khe Sanh are wearing the standard olive drab uniform issued to all normal troops in the Vietnam War, while the Marines in Hue City and DMZ, Vietnam wear the more limited tiger stripe uniform giving clue that the Marines in Hue City and DMZ are of Force Recon, and the Marines in Khe Sanh are standard troops. The Marines in Laos also wear olive drab uniforms.
 * The camouflage pattern on the Marines' helmet covers throughout the Vietnam section of the campaign is the same camouflage pattern worn on the Marines' helmet covers in Call of Duty: World at War.
 * After crawling underneath the destroyed M113, Mason is given the opportunity by Woods to detonate the Fugassi Mines in an attempt to push back the NVA troops who have gotten dangerously close to the trench. This scene is very similar to the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mission, "Heat," in which Soap is tasked by Price with detonating sets of charges from inside one of the houses to delay the rushing Ultranationalists from capturing the escaping SAS troops.
 * On the second hill where the player must save Woods, if the player were to run to the top without first killing all the NVA troops on top of the hill, the player will randomly blow up and the message, "You were killed by friendly mortars!" will appear.
 * At the part were the player has to blow up three tanks there is a dead U.S. soldier and he is missing a section of his head and some teeth.
 * On the loading screen for the mission a Cobra attack helicopter can be seen on the top right-hand side.
 * While being attacked by the NVA soldier, nobody seems to help or notice you.
 * Destroying the 6 tanks in the end with no more than 6 rockets will get you an the trophy/achievement "Tough Economy".
 * A glitch sometimes occurs where after Mason crawl under the M113, Woods will not appear and the NVA will run to a certain point before suddenly dying. The player must commit suicide to carry on.
 * In the trenches, the player is given the choice to go straight or right to avoid the NVA. If they player chooses to go right, the player will be able to see a NVA regular rush Hudson,but Hudson will tackle him, punch him several times, then get up and proceed to stomp on his head several times, killing him.
 * The tank that blows up towards the beginning of the mission that Mason has to climb under has the words "The Outcasts" written on the side.
 * Sometimes when an enemy is killed he will drop an AK-47 with a Flamethrower and IR Scope and a Makarov with an Extended Magazine but these two weapons can never be used.
 * Sometimes on the radio, the player can hear a pilot say,"Arc Light 5 or 10 minutes out." Arc Light was the callsign for B-52 Stratofortress bombers doing close air support missions over Vietnam.
 * Mason when in the jeep calls a group of F-4 Phantoms, VF-143. VF-143 was an actual U.S. Navy squadron named the Pukin' Dogs which served in Vietnam.

Walkthrough
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