SOG Boot Print Deception Vietnam

During the Vietnam War, top secret U.S. Special Operations Group (SOG) teams struggled to hide their distinctive boot prints on Viet Cong jungle trails. They even tried special boots with soles shaped like bare feet, but enemy trackers could still tell Americans had passed through. To confuse the trails completely, SOG personnel collected about 20,000 pairs of used U.S. combat boots from military hospitals. They then air-dropped the boots to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, making American-style footprints appear everywhere and stripping them of their value as a tracking clue.

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