There's a saying motorcycle enthusiasts use to explain their love of Harley-Davidsons, sport bikes and choppers.

"If I have to explain it, you won't understand."

Leon Chamberlain, a motorcycle owner and avid rider, said the same applies to his love for the military.

Recently, the 56-year-old sold one of his newer motorcycles in preparation for his upcoming deployment to Iraq. He doesn't want the bike to sit idle for the year he will be gone.

When he leaves he will also give up his job as a veterans' advocate - a post created by the state last year to seek out Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Wyoming and link them to medical, mental health and financial services.

In Iraq, he will still advocate for Wyoming soldiers; he will just now be on the front lines of the war with them.

The Wyoming National Guard wants Chamberlain to deploy with them as a health professional to help soldiers deal with combat, death or even things happening back home.

"This is my family," Chamberlain said in reference to why he wants to go to Iraq. However, he said it will be difficult to be away from his wife of 32 years in Douglas.

"When you are standing next to someone in a uniform, it's your brother, your sister no matter what the rank," he said. "When someone is hurting in your family, you reach out to them."

Chamberlain grew up during the Vietnam War era, but he had a high lottery number and was never drafted.

While people he knew fought and died in Vietnam, he attended college and started a family.

"I felt bad," Chamberlain said. "There was some guilt in not being in the war."

A close friend of Chamberlain's came back from Vietnam and joined the National Guard. Even though he had a wife and two young children, Chamberlain's sense of patriotic duty got the best of him.

He joined the Guard in 1980.

After about 11 years in the Guard, Chamberlain quit because he wanted to go to graduate school and felt he couldn't devote enough time to both.

He received a master's degree from the University of Denver and became a licensed clinical social worker. He wanted to continue his work with the military so he went to work at the Vet Center in Casper counseling combat veterans.

In 2006, after nine years with the Vet Center, his patriotic feelings boiled to the surface again. He had been out of the Guard for more than 14 years, though.

"I thought I was too old to get back in, but with the war and my background, I did," Chamberlain said. The Wyoming National Guard hired him as a mental health service officer.

Shortly after, the state began the veterans advocate program and because of Chamberlain's background and contact with soldiers, he seemed like a perfect match.

Chamberlain hasn't been to Iraq before. He will be the only mental health officer deploying with the Wyoming National Guard. As of now, the Guard hasn't told Chamberlain when he will be leaving.

Whenever it is, Chamberlain is ready to meet the needs of any soldier no matter what the problem.

"I'm in a position over there where people know me already," Chamberlain said. "They know me by sight and I won't have to build that relationship with them. I've got their trust, their confidence."

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