A number of US military combat veterans were involved in planning the raid. Of these, we have a few names: William Buford, an Army Special Forces combat veteran, Jerry Petrilli, a Marine Corps combat veteran, and Kenny King, also a Marine Corps combat veteran. (Treasury Report, pg. 37).
As early as July 1992 during the Republican Administration of George Bush, BATF agents were receiving secret training for the raid. (The Dallas Morning News, March 1, 1993). The site of the training and the identity of the trainers is not revealed.
In mid-February, 1993, Special Forces personnel from Ft. Bragg in NC came to Ft. Hood Texas to train the BATF agents on the Military Operations Urban Training Facility (MOUT) at Ft. Hood (Treasury Report, pg. 73). (See the description of MOUT training in The Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1995).
Waco researcher and satellite engineer Ken Fawcett captured TV raw footage showing what appeared to be a TV cameraman being physically assaulted by ATF agents on the day of the raid. After Mr. Fawcett circulated the footage, it was revealed that Dan Mulloney, a cameraman at KWTX, the CBS affiliate in Waco, had been at the scene filming activities that morning, and was assaulted by ATF agents.
When Mr. Mulloney gave his terse testimony at the 1994 San Antonio trial of the Branch Davidians, he revealed that he had been taping footage of agents injured during the raid when ATF agents "among others," set upon him. (Transcript, pg. 3325). Unfortunately, the Branch Davidian defense attorney questioning Mr. Mulloney did not ask which "others." Later, when Mr. Mulloney was asked if he was locating injured ATF agents, Mr. Mulloney replied, "We directed some ATF agents to where a wounded person was, yes." Note that he used the word "person," not ATF agent. (Transcript, pg. 3342.)
Why would ATF agents "among others" physically attack a TV cameraman taking video pictures of injured ATF agents? Had Mr. Mulloney inadvertently taken footage of some Special Ops commandos at the scene? Recall from lthe exhibit, The Black Army, that "Special Ops Commandos Wear Civilian Disguises" when on secret missions. Recall also from the same exhibit the level of secrecy surrounding Special Ops activities. When Green Beret combat forces were in El Salvador in 1982, a US colonel, videotaped by a TV crew carrying an M-16 rifle, was whisked out of the country before too many questions could be asked ("Lying and Secrecy — Standard Operating Procedure," in The Black Army).
Recall that Special Operations (1) conduct illegal operations (2) conduct these illegal operations in secret (3) routinely lie about their activities and deny involvement (4) conduct these illegal operations under the ruse of training (5) conduct these illegal missions while wearing civilian clothing, and (6) are not opposed to killing civilians.
The direct participation of Special Ops commandos in the February 28, 1993 raid should be considered an open question by all fair-minded persons.