Claim: The expression "boots on the ground" has an extended military-jargon history and certainly dates back at least to British officer Robert Grainger Ker Thompson, strategist of the British counter-insurgency efforts against the Malayan National Liberation Army during the Malayan Emergency, a guerrilla war fought in the Federation of Malaya from 1948 until 1960.
Evidence: The expression "boots on the ground" has an extended military-jargon history. It certainly dates back at least to British officer Robert Grainger Ker Thompson, strategist of the British counter-insurgency efforts against the Malayan National Liberation Army during the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960 (see entry). The Malayan Emergency (Malay: Darurat Malaya) was a guerrilla war fought in the Federation of Malaya from 1948 until 1960.