Johnny Micheal Spann

He served six years with the United States Marine Corps, including tours in Okinawa, Japan and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, eventually achieving the rank of Captain. Spann joined the CIA in June 1999 and went on to serve in the Special Operations Group of the CIA's Special Activities Division.

In December 1991, while attending Auburn University, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve. 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. He had originally wanted to go into aviation, but became a field artillery officer and eventually served with the elite 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company. He specialized in directing indirect fire and close air support. In 1997, he served as second-in-command for UNITAS, a joint exercise expedition in Latin America and Africa.

Johnny Micheal Spann was from the small town of Winfield, Alabama, the son of a real estate agent and his wife. Spann graduated in 1987 from Winfield City High School, where he played football. At 17, he earned his private pilot license and later became a certified rescue diver and parachutist.

Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann (March 1, 1969 – November 25, 2001) was a paramilitary operations officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division (renamed Special Activities Center in 2016). Spann was the first American killed in combat during the United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. He died at the Qala-i-Jangi fortress in a Taliban prisoner uprising.