Rear Admiral Mike Spencer received his commission in 1993 from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering and was designated as a naval flight officer in 1995. He is a graduate of the United States Naval War College and holds a Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies.
At sea, as a junior officer he deployed with Fighter Squadron 211 aboard USS Nimitz and USS John C. Stennis assigned to Carrier Air Wing 9. He served as the strike and air warfare officer with Carrier Air Wing 1 deploying aboard USS Enterprise. He completed his department head tour with Fighter Squadron 213 deploying aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8. He commanded Strike Fighter Squadron 102 and deployed three times with USS George Washington assigned to Carrier Air Wing 9. He also commanded Carrier Air Wing 11 while deployed on USS Nimitz and assigned to Carrier Strike Group 11.
Ashore, he was a fleet replacement squadron instructor assigned to Fighter Squadron 101 as schedules officer, VIP coordinator and strike phase head; Maritime Domain Chief at North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command; Head Aviation Analyst with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Programming Division; Chief of Staff and Maritime Operations Center Director for NAVCENT/U.S. 5th Fleet; and Executive Assistant for Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
As a flag officer, Spencer commanded the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center. He reported as commander Carrier Strike Group FOUR (CSG-4) in July 2025.
He has logged more than 4,000 flight hours, 100 combat missions and 1,100 carrier arrested landings, and has received numerous personal, unit, and campaign awards.