Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann (March 1, 1969 – November 25, 2001) was an American paramilitary officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division.

After graduating from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement in 1992, Spann attended the Marines' Officer Candidates School at Quantico, Virginia.

[3] He served six years with the United States Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, eventually achieving the rank of Captain.

Spann joined the CIA in June 1999 and trained at The Farm, where he met his future wife Shannon Verleur (née Joy) and was known as "Silent Mike".

In early 2001, he was on a training course[5] with a fellow former Marine called Brian (who as of 2021 was head of the CIA's Special Activities Center)[6] and discussed the Al Qaeda threat and the USS Cole, which had been bombed in October 2000.

[7][8] Spann returned from the Balkans on September 8, 2001 [4] was inside CIA headquarters on 9/11 and was angered by the order to evacuate, asking colleagues: "Why are we leaving when we can stay and do something?

The eight were the first Americans behind enemy lines after 9/11; the CIA's Jawbreaker team had arrived on September 26, but were located in terrain controlled by the Northern Alliance in the Panjshir Valley.

Earlier that day, he and David Tyson, a CIA case officer and Uzbek-language specialist based in Tashkent, questioned John Walker Lindh,[15] an American citizen and Taliban member, and other prisoners.

They saw the CIA officer, who was about five yards away from them, swing around and raise his AKMS rifle to his shoulder as the prisoners revolted amid sounds of gunfire and grenade explosions.

Spann pulled out his Glock 19 pistol[18] and fired one or two shots before he was overwhelmed, disappearing beneath a pile of prisoners[19] desperately trying to seize his weapons.

Tyson grabbed Spann's AKMS rifle and used it, and other weapons, to fight his way into the northern half of the fort, killing at least a dozen and possibly up to 40 Al Qaeda prisoners.

In a news report by Time published shortly after the events, it was stated that Spann fought only with his pistol, killing three attackers before being overwhelmed by the more numerous prisoners.

Time reported shortly after the events: According to members of a German television crew who were later trapped in the fort with Dave, Spann asked the prisoners who they were and why they joined the Taliban.

[24]A military autopsy concluded that Spann died from two gunshot wounds to the head[25] "resulting in severe, rapidly fatal injury to the brain."

Spann's casket was also accompanied[26] by Alex Hernandez, deputy chief of Team Alpha, and the head of the CIA's Ground Branch.

[35] Spann lived in Manassas Park, Virginia, and was survived by his wife, Shannon Joy, also a CIA officer, and three children, Alison, Emily, and Jake.

His ex-wife, Kathryn Ann Webb, mother of two of his children, Alison and Emily, died of cancer five weeks after Spann's death.