​Lisa Niner Chief Warrant Officer (CW4 Ret.), US Army

​Lisa Niner entered the US Army in 1983 as an AH-1 Cobra Helicopter Repairer at the age of 20. She was the 2nd female in Army history to graduate from a “Combat” Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) producing school. After racing motorcycles since she was 10, and riding since she was 6, she had to go Airborne! Lisa spent 3 years with the 82nd Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade as a mechanic and a crew chief. When she first arrived at Bragg, her Company (F Troop) was deployed to Grenada. After Bragg, she was transferred to Ft. Rucker to stand up the 1st Apache Helicopter Battalion, not knowing that when she arrived they would tell her females were not allowed in Combat Units, so she finished out her regular Army career working at the Aviation Museum with a bad attitude. Lisa loved the Army so much, but they couldn’t promise her Bragg if she reenlisted, so she moved on.
Lisa stayed at Rucker and worked as a helicopter mechanic for Sikorsky as a contractor. She stayed in the Reserves and volunteered to go to Panama for 6 months as a UH1-1 Huey crew chief. Lisa wanted to go home, so she packed everything up and moved back to Maryland (MD). The first thing she did was go to the MD Army National Guard and sign up! She was lucky enough to grab an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) position as a Recruiter. Lisa was successful, but missed aviation, so she applied and was selected as a full time Army Technician.

From 1990 to 2012, she was deployed to El Salvador, Bosnia, Kuwait, and Afghanistan 2x’s (Bagram and Kandahar). She was enlisted for 13 years, and had the opportunity to go to Warrant Officer Candidate School in 1995. She retired a Chief Warrant (CW)4 in 2015 with 33 years of service as an Aviation Production Control Officer.

Military is in Lisa’s blood! Her father is a Korean War Veteran (Purple Heart), her brother is a 31 year Veteran of the Navy, graduating from the US Naval Academy, her Uncle is a Vietnam Vet (CIB, Bronze Star) and two nephews are USMC and Army National Guard.

Lisa has owned or ridden a motorcycle for her entire life. She still races Flat Track at the local tracks and rides her Harley, BMW and numerous dirt bikes for fun! So much more to tell, so little time to ride!