It was a somewhat low-key event Friday as Fort Lewis soldiers preparing to go to Afghanistan said goodbye to the Puyallup community that has embraced them.

The soldiers escorted kids from a nearby daycare on tours around one of two armored Stryker vehicles on display. The Good Samaritan Hospital president and squadron commander each gave a short speech. A lunch with hospital employees and the soldiers followed.

The children were allowed to climb inside the 21-ton Stryker and sit in the driver’s seat. Several soldiers from the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division wore their full battle kits and answered anything the kids asked.

“Two questions kept coming up,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Wozny, who’s preparing for his third deployment. “They asked, ‘Can I drive it?’ and ‘Can I shoot the gun?’

“The answers,” he said with a smile, “were ‘No’ and ‘Absolutely not.’ ”

It’s fairly simple how this relationship got started back in November 2007:

A Fort Lewis cavalry squadron needed the training. A Puyallup hospital had the expertise. A Community Connections program made the link.

The soldiers of 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment were preparing for a deployment to Iraq, where they were to help rebuild the country. Squadron leaders contacted Good Samaritan and asked for help.

“We approached them and said, ‘We want to learn how to run a hospital on a daily basis,’” recalled Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Willing. “They were all for it. I teamed up with the maintenance crew. Others shadowed guys in the ER.”

His squadron was linked with Puyallup through Community Connections, a nine-year-old program that twins a Fort Lewis unit with one of the surrounding communities. And even though the 5th brigade has since been redirected to Afghanistan – it will deploy early this summer – Willing stressed the importance of the experience.

“The relationships we’ve built here have been great,” he said. “After all, we’re all a part of this community.”

The Community Connections program was launched in 2000 at the request of then-Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Hill, who wanted to build stronger ties between the post and its neighbors. It has since evolved into a program that pairs units with 15 cities in Western Washington.

The units participated in more than 200 events last year, said program coordinator Brendalyn Carpenter, from sending representatives to city council meetings to volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club.

When the units are deployed, community volunteers sometimes send care packages to soldiers and plan barbecues when they return.

The benefit isn’t one-sided: The soldiers from 8th Squadron helped Good Samaritan prepare for potential masscasualty disasters, hospital President John Long said.

“When we would practice our disaster drills, they had way more expertise than we did,” he said. “They’re used to dealing with disasters. That’s their life.”

A partnership with another unit of 5th Stryker Brigade and the Puyallup Fire Department aims to potentially save lives and millions of dollars on the battlefield. The firefighters have trained soldiers of the 402nd Brigade Support Battalion for two years in fire suppression and extraction in the case of a rollover or other accident.

“We brought in their guy, their resident expert on extraction, and he helped us pick out the right equipment – the stuff we really needed,” said Capt. Tom Casey, the commander of the squadron’s headquarters troop. “A lot of times, many of our guys don’t really have expertise on something like that, and the guidance was really helpful.”

The program also helps soldiers get a better sense of the community in which they live, he said.

“It’s good to get outside of our little bubble and see what other organiz- ations are doing to support the community,” said Casey, a Steilacoom resident who has been with 5th Brigade for 212 years. “Most of the groups we work with are public service organizations. At the end of the day, that’s what we do, too.”

Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758

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Community connections partners

DuPont: 6th Military Police Group

Gig Harbor: 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade

Lacey: 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

Lakewood: 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

Olympia: 593rd Sustainment Brigade

Parkland/Spanaway: 191st Infantry Brigade (Division West)

Puyallup: 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

Rainier: 62nd Medical Brigade

Roy: 555th Engineer Brigade

Seattle: Deputy commanding general, I Corps and Fort Lewis

Steilacoom: 42nd Military Police Brigade

Tacoma/Nisqually Indian Tribe: Fort Lewis garrison

Tumwater: 17th Fires Brigade

University Place: Western Regional Dental Command

Yelm: 1st Special Forces Group