Neb. Guard names helo after roller derby team - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Neb. Guard names helo after roller derby team

LINCOLN, Neb. — “Mad Maxine” is on duty in Afghanistan. The newly named Chinook helicopter is part of a general aviation support battalion with the Nebraska Army National Guard in Grand Island.

The helicopter is named after Lincoln’s roller derby team’s all-star squad, The Lincoln Journal Star reports.

The newspaper says a skater on the No Coast Derby Girls went to school with Sgt. Rick Carter, the flight engineer on the helicopter. He wanted some stickers for the Chinook, but then decided to name the helicopter and have the name painted on the ramp.

Another derby skater serving in Afghanistan, Sgt. Leah Luebbe, came up with “Mad Maxine.”

Team captain and executive director Andrea Tarnick called the helicopter’s naming “an honor.”