Leon Chamberlain bought a small motorhome after the state asked him to help it reach out to Wyoming veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.

He wanted a quiet, private place where soldiers would feel comfortable telling him they haven't slept more than an hour a night because of nightmares. Or they lost their job because they couldn't control their anger.

A motorhome also comes in handy when he is in rural parts of the state and he needs a place to sleep. The veterans advocate didn't want any barriers to reaching a soldier.

In the past two weeks, Chamberlain has been at Camp Guernsey and Cheyenne for the Static Air Show of Frontier Days to try to make contact with soldiers.

He's also traveled to other cities across the northern part of the state - his colleague David Hall covers the southern part - in the past week because he has received several calls from people concerned about veterans.

Many veterans think: "'There must be something wrong with me. I should be able to come back to a normal life. I didn't see anything. It wasn't that bad,'" Chamberlain said.

However, Chamberlain said almost every soldier who returns from the Middle East feels some effects post-deployment.

The state created the veterans advocate program because people thought veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan needed more help than what the federal government offers.

The Legislature passed a bill during the 2008 budget session appropriating almost $850,000 to the Wyoming Department of Health to address mental health and substance abuse problems of military personnel.

More than half of that went to the veterans advocate program to identify soldiers and families who need help.

"Our state says, 'You know what? We can do a better job,'" said Hall, who has been a Wyoming National Guard chaplain for 12 years. "We do things most other states don't. We don't want our service members 20 or 40 years later to go through three marriages and 15 jobs before they get help, if they ever do."

One of the biggest challenges with returning veterans is most of them have trouble asking for help and view it as a sign of weakness, the advocates said.

These two men don't wait for the veterans to ask; they go to the veterans and their families.

"Is there a chance we can talk?" Chamberlain asks veterans.

About 18.5 percent of returning soldiers suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, according to a Rand Corp. study. And estimated 10 percent to 20 percent have experienced road-side bomb blasts, which are the most common culprit for traumatic brain injuries.

It is debated whether soldiers in war time divorce or attempt suicide at higher rates than the general population, but Chamberlain and Hall see it too frequently.

They meet soldiers who lose their jobs, struggle financially and have difficulty relating to spouses and children. They see soldiers who avoid Wal-Mart because it is too crowded or have anger management issues.

"This is not to say our vets are screwed up," Chamberlain said. "They have served honorably and will come home and be productive members in society with some help."

Although money was just appropriated to the program, Chamberlain and Hall began work in November with the help of other funding.

Since then, Chamberlain said he has met about 500 to 600 soldiers in the Guard, plus some with the Army Reserve.

He said it's hard for them to reach soldiers in the Reserve because the advocates don't know when they are coming home. With the Guard, Hall and Chamberlain travel to post-deployment locations across the country to meet with soldiers.

There, they educate the soldiers about what are normal feelings and what to do if something crops up after several months at home.

"They need to recognize when they start to feel anger or that distance and to take a time-out," said Chamberlain, who is also a mental health service officer with the Guard.

Education is a major component to the program, Chamberlain said. They teach families and employers about the effects of deployment.

Sometimes family members may share the same emotions as the soldier, Chamberlain said, and the family needs help, too. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a lot of services for veterans but not for the families. The advocates can help link the families to more local resources

The advocates don't diagnose or offer treatment. They simply help the soldier and family discover if there is a problem and link them to services.

The hardest part of deployment is reintegrating back into society, Hall said, and that's exactly what this program helps soldiers do.

"Little by little, they find they can trust me," Hall said. "With the context of trust and relationship building, we can get them help."

Star-Tribune staff writer Jared Miller contributed to this story.

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.

If you or a soldier you know is struggling, contact one of the state's veteran advocates for help. For the northern part of the state, call Leon Chamberlain at (307) 359-2430 and for the southern part of the state, call David Hall at (307) 631-3736.