Courtesy Photo U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci

"Some things are easy to get used to," he said. "The shower. I don't just have a two-minute shower of only cold water. The hardest part is (my wife and I) trying to figure out where I fit in."

Minecci returned to Frederick on May 8, ending a deployment that began in August 2007.

He and his wife, Michelle, had been married for just six months when he deployed.

Minecci went to Baghdad with the 52nd Military History Detachment, attached to the 3rd Infantry Division.

Army military history detachments are three-person teams charged with collecting primary sources for the historical record, Minecci said. That includes oral histories from soldiers and officers, and copies of orders, after-action reports, award citations and other records.

"We are field collectors," he said. "We do not write our history, we collect our history."

Minecci has been in the Army for more than 17 years, and has served in locations from the Military District of Washington to Bosnia to Iraq.

Last June, the 52nd MHD left Iraq, but he stayed on with the Forest Park, Ga.-based 317th Military History Division, with the 10th Mountain Division.

Deciding to remain with the new unit was difficult.

"I actually was not in favor of it," Minecci said. "I was burned out."

But after talking it over with his wife, he decided to stay.

Minecci had debts, including credit card balances and child support payments from his first marriage.

Michelle ran the numbers and figured that by staying for a second year, he could wipe out everything except his car payment.

"It's a pretty compelling case," he said.

In December, Minecci made another hard decision and re-enlisted for another six-year term in the Army Reserve.

"My wife says I'm married to (the Army) but I disagree with that -- I'm married to her."

Iraq has seen big improvements in the past few years, he said. As rough as it is over there, soldiers keep re-enlisting because they are seeing progress.

Since the invasion, Iraqi children have come out and waved to American troops as they pass. Now, the adults do, too.

And the Iraqi army is taking the lead in military operations, leaving U.S. forces in more of a support role, Minecci said.

Iraq's army is not "the Keystone Kops that people think they are. It will calm down, I'm convinced of that," he said.

Someday, he would like to go back to Iraq as a tourist and visit some of the archaeological sites.

With most of six years still ahead of him, Minecci said he can't see how he won't get called up to active duty at least once more.

It would be nice to have two or three years at home first, he said. Getting called up again after only a year would be rough.

He hopes to make this his last enlistment.

For now, he's having to do a lot of relearning.

"I have to learn it's OK to be in a crowd," he said. "Silence is OK. There's so much noise over there."

Minecci and his wife are "dating" again, relearning their quirks, figuring out how he fits into the household.

He is not allowed to make coffee. His wife has told him seven scoops is five too many, he said.

"I make it Army strong."