A member of a MACV-SOG reconnaissance team packs his rucksack and gear at a fortified forward compound, preparing for a clandestine mission across the border into Laos or Cambodia. Photographs like this one, preserved in the Gene McCarley Collection, document the equipment, dress, and daily routines of the indigenous and American soldiers who carried out some of the Vietnam War's most dangerous reconnaissance operations, including Operation Tailwind. Project: 219476