Members of 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) and the South Sound community came together last weekend to support one Joint Base Lewis-McChord family. Traditionally, members of the Special Operations Forces community have been very insular - unsurprisingly - due to the sensitive nature of their jobs. But when one of their own needed help, they reached out to the civilian community.

"Mike" is a soldier with 1st Group. He prefers not to be named in the press due to the sensitive work he and his fellow special operators perform. As a Green Beret, he's trained to deal with any challenge he may face overseas. But his training didn't prepare him for his son, Arden, getting sick. The young boy suffers from a rare form of lymphoma that causes him to bleed internally constantly.

The staff at Madigan Army Medical Center has kept Arden alive, but the disease is so rare, the military medical system doesn't have specialists to properly treat it. In fact, the only place in the entire country that knows how to deal with Arden's disease is the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. However, Arden can't leave Madigan's life support for long periods. Making the trip to Milwaukee could prove deadly, but he needs specialized treatment.

Master Sgt. Ed Hall is a sniper with 1st Group, and knows what it's like to have a loved one receive a devastating diagnosis. Just recently, Hall's wife was diagnosed with grade 3 brain cancer. Hall is a member of the Green Beret Foundation, where he's also the social media coordinator. When he needed help, fellow soldiers and community members came to his aid, raising money for him and his wife.

When Hall learned about Mike's situation, he wanted to pay it forward. He contacted Fergus Hyke, a local veteran and one of the directors at Tacoma South Sound Sports, to put together a fundraiser and a series of events. But a unique situation called for a unique solution. They reached out to the civilian community through organizations like GORUCK. Hall and Mike's commander, Maj. Eric Hartwig, were supportive, as was JBLM leadership.

Hall said that this is something bigger than the Army taking care of one of its soldiers; this was a community stepping up.

"It's different than your typical fundraising event," Hyke explained. He said that in the case of many charities, money goes to a cause in which the donor hopes something good comes of it, even if they don't see the impact. In this case, the money went to an individual.

The response to Mike's situation was immediate: money and well wishes came in from all over the country. Hyke credited social media with much of the success, noting the ability to reach out not just to people in the Puget Sound area, but also to those on the east coast and across the country as well.

"This is new. Nothing like this has ever happened before," Hyke said. "There's no blueprint for this; it just doesn't happen."

Overwhelmed by the response, 1st SFG (A) did something the usually secretive unit rarely does: it invited members of the community to experience some of 1st SFG from their perspective.

On Nov. 20, a group of 39 civilians and 24 Special Forces operators participated in a community outreach range day, where community members got to see weapons and facilities the soldiers use - under careful supervision, of course.

Hall explained that this was meant to put a face to the name for the soldiers and supporters who often had never met each other before.

The day after Range Day, the four-event GORUCK experience began. The weekend series featured grueling athletic events from weightlifting exercises to ruck marches. Three of the events varied from six to 12 hours in length, then culminating in a 24-hour, 35-plus mile GORUCK heavy. Hartwig took part, and recalled that as it went on, participants became increasingly discouraged.

Ultimately, Hartwig fired up the group up by reminding them about why they were doing it. When we talked the next day, Hartwig admitted he was feeling sore from the long march.

Tim Kennedy, a UFC middleweight fighter and Special Forces soldier, had hoped to attend, but had to back out. Instead, he sent signed gear from Ranger-Up - a pro-military apparel brand - to be raffled off.

Between the fundraising, the raffle and events, it was a rousing success. Working together, soldiers and civilians raised more than $10,000 for Mike's family.

"This is a life changing event," Hall said, reflecting both on his experience and on Mike's. He said he'd like to see the Green Beret Foundation do something like it more often.

"I intend to retire out here, and I want this to be a yearly thing," he said. He and Hyke are already talking about how to make that happen.

Just as Hall paid it forward with Mike, Hall said Mike has been deeply impacted by the experience. "He wants to take a leading role in this next time so he can pay it forward," Hall explained.

"This is really a lot like what we do downrange" Hartwig reflected. Special Forces troops are used to going overseas in small groups, but win large influence and rely on local people to succeed. He said that in many ways, this effort was surprisingly similar.

Hall has deployed multiple times to Iraq and Southeast Asia. But ultimately, he said, looking out for Mike and his family is the most important thing he's done as a soldier. "There's no mission I've done that I feel more proud of than what I did this weekend."