25 November 2001.
Qala-i-Jangi Fortress. Balkh Province, Afghanistan.
Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann, a paramilitary officer in the CIA Special Activities Division, and devoted husband, father, and patriot, was brutally killed during a prison uprising at Qala-i-Jangi Fortress during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi or also known as, the Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif, by Taliban prisoners who were not properly searched for weapons. The details of his death have been reported in many places, but to say he died and lived the life of a hero is a vast understatement.
Alabama Boy
Mike Spann was born and raised in Alabama. After high school, Mike attended Auburn University where he joined the Marine Corps Reserves. After graduating from Auburn, Mike was commissioned into the Marines and served 6 years as a Field Artillery officer eventually leaving the service as a Captain.
After the Marines, in 1999, Mike joined the CIA where he met his wife, Allison, also an agent in training. He was assigned to the Ground Branch aka Special Activities Division and served in several areas like Uzbekistan and the Balkans before the fateful day of September 11, 2001.
“Why are we leaving when we can do something?”
This question, asked by Mike on 11-SEPT, as CIA HQ in Langley, Virginia, was being evacuated due to the threat of further attacks, defined the next couple of months of his life. A little over a month later, on October 17, Mike and several other members of Team Alpha were inserted into Darya Suf Valley, near Mazir-i-Sharif, behind Taliban-controlled lines, becoming the first Americans in enemy territory in Afghanistan.
On 9 November 2001, Mazir-I-Sharif fell to a joint Northern Alliance - US Special Forces offensive with over 400 Taliban fighters (many foreign-born) surrendering to Northern Alliance General Abdul Rashid Dostum’s forces north of Mazir-i-Sharif after fleeing the American bombardment in Kunduz, the Taliban stronghold in Northern Afghanistan. These fighters, now prisoners, were quickly herded, without being searched fully, into flatbed trucks and taken to the ruined 19th Century fortress at Qala-I-Jangi. Among these prisoners was an American, John Walker Lindh, who Spear and fellow CIA officer David Tyson focused on in interrogation. After the Lindh interrogation, several of the captured Taliban fighters, with concealed weapons including grenades, revolted against their Northern Alliance and American captors, whom they outnumbered 4 to 1.
The Uprising and the Fall
On October 25, 2001, according to Time Magazine, following the Lindh interrogation:
At 11:15 a.m., the pair--Johnny Micheal Spann, 32, one of the CIA agents who had been active in Afghanistan since the war's beginning, the other identified by colleagues only as "Dave"--were taken to an open area outside the cells and a group of prisoners brought to meet them. 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. They massed around him. "Why are you here?" Spann asked one. "To kill you," came the reply as the man lunged at Spann's neck. Spann drew his pistol and shot the man dead. Dave shot another, then grabbed an AK-47 from an Alliance guard and opened fire. According to eyewitness accounts given to the German team, the Taliban fighters launched themselves at Spann, scrabbling at his flesh with their hands, kicking and beating him. Spann killed two more with his pistol before he disappeared under the crush.
”Inside the battle at Qala-I-Jangi,” Time Magazine, December 1, 2001
Fighting at the fortress prison lasted another 6 days ending with the final surrender of the surviving prisoners on December 1, 2001.
IN Memoriam
Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann, 32, devoted father and husband, Marine Corps veteran, and CIA Paramilitary officer, was the first official American death in the what-was-to-be 20-year war in Afghanistan. Spann was awarded the Intelligence Star, the third-highest honor for CIA officers (equivalent to the military’s Silver Star), and the Exceptional Service Medallion. Mike was also honored with the 79th star on the CIA Memorial Wall at HQ in Langley. He was buried in Arlington Cemetery on December 10, 2001.
Mike was survived by his wife, Shannon, and three children, Alison, Emily, and Jake.
November Challenge - Quiet Courage
To remember Spann, we are going to push ourselves to close to our physical and mental limits. In their travel in Afghanistan, Mike had to endure less-than-ideal living conditions and dealt with a vastly different culture than he had grown up with in Alabama.
Physical Challenge
Ruck or Run for 25 Miles, increasing distance, speed, or weight each time
Mike and Team Alpha deployed behind enemy lines with their rucks and weapons, but not much else. Mike saw this mission as being ‘the tip of the spear.’ CIA Paramilitary officers, many of which were prior special forces or special operations operators, have rucked hundreds, if not thousands of miles, through training and missions. For this month, our challenge is to ruck or run for 27 miles but to also increase our weight, or speed if choosing to run, each time to improve daily. It does not have to be a 70lb ruck or 15mph pace, but it could be adding a 1/2 lb or lb each time you go on a ruck or run. If you don’t have a ruck, carry something heavier each time with you on your shoulders like a sandbag or child. We chose 25 miles to represent the 25th, the date of Mike’s death in Afghanistan.
Mental Challenge
Spend 10-15 minutes a day in meditation
Mike was known for his quiet demeanor and steel-faced professionalism. Mike did not shy from making his opinions known, according to David Tyson, but he was a man who put the mission first, whether it be with being a father or deploying into Afghanistan with a small 8-man team to take on a vastly numbered enemy. Meditation builds mental toughness as it forces us to quiet our minds from the distractions of the day. Use this time to sit in quiet, with no music or podcasts, and just be comfortable with the uncomfortableness.
Optional Challenge to be done on 10/25:
The CIA Seven WOD
7 Rounds For Time
7 Push-Ups
7 Thrusters (135/95 lb) or 7 additional burpess (if no access to weights)
7 Knees-to-Elbows
7 Deadlifts (245/165 lb) or 7 squats (if no access to weights)
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell Swings
7 Pull-Ups
With a running clock, complete 7 rounds of the prescribed work in the order written, as fast as possible. Each round is made up of 49 repetitions: 7 Push-Ups, 7 Thrusters or burpees, 7 Knees-to-Elbows, 7 Deadlifts or squats, 7 burpees, 7 Kettlebell Swings, and 7 Pull-Ups.
Score is the time on the clock when the last round of Pull-Ups is completed.
Make sure to tag if you are participating and use social media with
#TheCompany & #RememberMikeSpann