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. Woods will rush to the emplaced M60 in the wood pillbox at the end of the trench. 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. Continuous waves of NVA will attack, necessitating the player to repeatedly kill those nearest in order to focus on the tanks. 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, the conversation Woods has with a pinned down soldier when first exiting the tunnel to the top of the hill makes everything clear. The USMC troops were unable to get the barrels buried like the earlier Fugassi Mines before the assault. 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. Near the top of the hill there are a few opportunities 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 down and dazed from an exploding mortar and will only have a few seconds after recovering to save Woods from a NVA soldier with his 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".

Transcript
Main article: S.O.G./Transcript

Starting Loadout
The player is carrying a Python throughout the level, but can only use 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.
 * 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.
 * It is anachronous that "Fortunate Son" is played at the begining and end of "S.O.G.", as the song wasn't released until 1969, whereas the level is in 1968.
 * In Call of Duty: Black Ops, the only instance of a weapon jamming is when 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 texture is for a soldier of 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 a Snubbed-Nose Python that cannot be acquired is used for the round of russian roulette 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 attacked 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. Their behavior towards him is an example of the 'family' mentality of a combat unit, as well as the soldiers' distrust and prejudice towards 'company men' and outsiders in general. Evidence of this is that Mason recieves a warm, friendly welcome by Woods, but Hudson does not. Hudson would be used to this, but seems concerned they show no interest in the details of their upcoming high-risk mission.
 * 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 DMZ, Vietnam wear the more limited tiger stripe uniform, 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, similar to the top of the hill where Hudson is unaware Woods' M16 has jammed and is about to be killed. This is all attributable to the chaos and confusion of the firebase being overrun by NVA
 * Destroying the 6 tanks in the end with no more than 6 rockets will get you an the trophy/achievement "Tough Economy".
 * A glitch may occur after you receive the achievement or taking out the last tank, where you will not get off the TOW launcher. Instead, your vision will stay on the launcher. However, you can still turn around and see Mason's headless model.
 * 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 M113 APC that blows up and falls into the trench towards the beginning of the mission that Mason must crawl under has been christened "The Outcasts" by it's crew. This is similar to the M113 in Victor Charlie that has been named "Bottom Feeder."
 * 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.
 * In the movie "Forrest Gump" when Forrest first enters Vietnam territory, the song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival plays just like when you first begin this mission. This may have been intended to be a reference to such.
 * After the player saves Woods and enters the bunker, the current weapons will be refilled automatically.
 * If the player fires a TOW missile right after destroying the last tank, the player can occasionally steer it without running out of fuel through the map.
 * If the player does as said above, it is possible to see through the TOW aiming module several B-52 Stratofortresses flying overhead.
 * It is possible for a NVA to drop an AK 47 with a grenade launcher, flamethrower, IR Scope, ACOG scope, red dot sight, masterkey shotgun and several other attachments all overlapping each other.
 * A sound bug may occur in this level. If it happens, all sound will be reduced and you can't hear anybody talking but your control will shake from explosions and when you fire your weapon.
 * It is possible to obtain an M14 with Dusty Camouflage in this mission.
 * Two US soldiers can be seen missing a section of their head, some teeth and an eye. One is dead and one is near death.
 * You can not kill the NVA that attacked you before he does even with a well placed frag.
 * When the gameplay starts, a few M16s with various, random attachments such as Masterkey, M203 or Reflex sight will have been dropped by the USMC killed by mortars while the player is carrying Hudson to safety. The exact position of these weapons is determined by where the Marines carrying them are when the mortars impact. This is important, as if they cannot be reached from the open doorway, the player will most likely be killed by mortars as well if they try to retrieve them. Restarting the mission will change their position, possibly making them easier to be acquired, but this will also re-randomize the attachments as well.
 * If you do not save Woods, a message on the screen will read "Woods was killed!".
 * The China Lake acquired by the player upon entering the TOW Jeep is automatically reloaded and restocked with ammo, 4/10, each time the player is slaved to using the TOW.
 * Exiting a static, fixed M60 while still firing it can cause the firing sound and player's camera recoil to continue until a fixed M60 is used again, athough visibly it behaves normally, dropping down and not firing.
 * In the area where Hudson is tackled and the USMC troops are killed with the flamethrower, some of the NVA creeping above the trenches, atop the sandbag fortifications survive being shot with over a hundred rounds from the player's M16. They may be impervious to damage from the player entirely, only being killed after suffering a normal amount of damage from the USMC NPCs around them.
 * The contradictory orders heard over the radio while moving through the collapsed bunker are example of the chaos of the attacks on Khe Sanh during the Tet Offensive. While enjoying individual superiority in training and weapons, US soldiers struggled to resist the 'wave' of thousands of NVA 'washing' their defensive lines away. Depending on where you were, it might have seemed all-out counter assault or full retreat would be the best course of action, often changing from one to the other and back again in seconds.
 * In the beginning of the level the helicopter that Woods arrives on has "Get Some" written on the nose. This is most likely an allusion to the Vietnam movie "Full Metal Jacket", which contained a scene where a soldier on mounted m60 in a Huey is mowing done Vietnamese while yelling out "Get some!"
 * While fighting to the top of the hill, it is possible to spot AK-47s with overlapping attachments, but they cannot be used.

Walkthrough
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