Once you’ve lived in a world filled with improvised explosive devices, incoming mortar rounds and patrols as a rear gunner on an armored Humvee, a new perspective is gained when it comes to wrestling practice.

After returning from a deployment of nearly a year in Iraq as a member of the 849th Mobile Augmentation Company in the Army National Guard, Adam Minette has transitioned back to the normalcy of being a student-athlete at St. Cloud State.

Minette’s goal is to become the starting 149-pound wrestler in the Huskies lineup. To do that, he must first reach the weight, a tough chore considering he gained about 20 pounds during his stint in Iraq.

“I wrestled at 157 before I left,” said Minette, a junior both academically and athletically. “We were on a tiny base. You could either work out or watch movies and get fat.”

Being a wrestler, Minette chose the former. He lifted free weights as a way to relieve the stress. By the time his deployment ended on May 16, he weighed around 175 pounds.

“That was as strong as I’ve probably been my whole life,” said the 23-year-old Minette, who grew up in New Prague, Minnesota. “I wasn’t in the best cardio shape ever, but I increased all my lifts dramatically.”

While he was on duty in the National Guard, Minette’s unit was assigned to patrol the towns and villages in the western part of Baghdad. They would speak with the locals and conduct house-to-house searches in hopes of finding weapons or enemy combatants.

Minette’s unit also was assigned to make sure the main supply routes between bases were clear. Some humanitarian work also took place as the National Guard delivered food and helped supervise a school being built.

But when he was on patrol, Minette’s job was to be ready to operate a 50-caliber machine gun on the back on the Humvee.

“When I first got there, I was a nervous wreck,” said Minette, an economics major. “I didn’t know what to think. I was on edge all the time. I felt like I was going crazy. After a month or so, I was able to relax some. I didn’t get complacent, but I got to the point where I figured if I didn’t calm down a little bit, I was going to lose it.”

In late December of last year, Minette experienced just how fragile life can be when an improvised explosive device went off about 10 feet from his Humvee. No casualties occurred, but all his concerns became a stark reality.

“My ears were ringing for a while,” he said. “It scared the living hell out of everybody. We got out and traced the wire, but we couldn’t find the triggerman. He slipped away on us. After that, things got tense for a while.”

Minette comes from a military family. His father Richard and two uncles served in the Army, and he has three cousins in the National Guard.

He had thoughts of entering the Marine Corps out of high school, but he also wanted to wrestle in college. He figured he would go to St. Cloud State, and join the National Guard to get the both of best worlds.

Minette did this fully knowing there was a high probability that he would be deployed in a combat area.

“I’ve always been proud to live in this country,” Minette said. “I started thinking, ‘What have I ever done to deserve all these freedoms?’ This way I can say I actually defended something. We apprehended a couple of high-valued targets. We made a difference in our area.”

He still has three years left on his commitment to the National Guard, so a re-deployment is always a possibility.

“If it comes, I will go,” he said.

Minette, who compiled an 18-17 record in wrestling through his sophomore year, said his friends have noticed a change in him since he returned from Iraq. He believes it is because he doesn’t take things for granted anymore.

“I’m probably more serious about things,” Minette said. “I’m doing the best I’ve ever done in my classes. I just don’t mess around anymore.”

He also appreciates the simple luxuries of life more. On the day he returned from Iraq, all he wanted to do was rent some movies and sit on the couch.

“It was nice knowing that I didn’t have to be at a certain place at a certain time,” Minette said. “I didn’t have to report to an individual for orders. I was able to do what I wanted for a day. That was an incredible feeling.”

Now, life is filled with classes, homework and, of course, practice.

“I spend the rest of my free time with my girlfriend,” Minette said. “I don’t have a whole lot of time for anything else right now. But I’m definitely enjoying this part of my life.”    

It will be even better once those final pounds come off.