Sam Hanna

The son of a Marine colonel, Hanna attended a military school and excelled in football, playing wide receiver.[2] Like the actor, Hanna is a native of New York City.[3]

Outside his job, Hanna has a varied range of interests, including boxing, origami[4] and collecting vinyl records and antique cars.[5] He also tends to follow the latest health food and fitness fads. He suffers from coulrophobia (fear of clowns)[6] and has a fear of maggots.[7]

Of all the members of the team, Hanna has known Callen the longest and is the only one who calls him "G". In the season 3 episode "Partners" it is established that the duo have been partners for five years. Whereas Callen has the tendency to be a lone wolf, Hanna is a team player who is able to work with anyone.

In the season 9 episode "The Silo", Sam revealed that he is a devout Muslim, something that had previously been hinted at on numerous occasions throughout the show's run.

It is established during the first several episodes, from vague references in their casual conversations, that he and Callen have been working together for some time and are good friends. In the episode "Fame" he was initially hostile to Detective Marty Deeks, the newly appointed LAPD liaison officer and called him "Temp" throughout the episode.

In the season two finale, Hanna resigns from NCIS along with Callen and Kensi in order to follow Hetty's trail to Prague without Director Vance's authorization.[25] It is revealed in the episode "Greed" that Hanna has been working undercover on a joint CIA task force in Sudan for the past year. His teammates had already been suspicious due to Hanna uncharacteristically turning up late for work and taking leaves of absence. During the investigation he crosses paths with fellow undercover operative Michael Saleh (Sherman Augustus), who revealed that he suspected his cover had been blown due to a leak in the agency. In the following episode "Betrayal" Callen travels to Sudan to find Sam after a charred corpse is discovered and identified as Saleh.[26]

In the episode "Lohkay", Hanna revealed that he was once separated from his SEAL team and was hunted by the Taliban. An Afghani villager named Yousef saved his life. The Taliban searched the village looking for Sam only to discover that he was already gone. They killed Yousef's entire family except one nephew, Amir. Yousef reached out to Hanna for help, and Hanna said that he "pulled some strings" to get them into the USA. In this episode, Hanna is once again hunted by the Taliban. Later, it was revealed that Amir was working for a terrorist named Habib. His mission is to kill Sam, "the one that got away". Sam was trapped inside their boat shed and beaten up by Habib's men with Callen, Kensi and Deeks launching a rescue operation which was successful, resulting in the deaths of the terrorists. Throughout the episode, Callen and Hetty are worried because Hanna is personally involved in the case. Hetty "punishes" Sam for using federal resources, once again, by buying expensive Scotch at his expense.

Michelle is reactivated after NCIS, FBI and CIA discover that Sidorov has stolen three Cold War-era nuclear devices from former KGB sleeper agents in the United States. She confides to Sam that she misses her undercover work when he expresses his disapproval about her desire to return to active duty.[10] In the season four finale, Sam is partnered with Deeks who confronts him over his indifference towards him. Hanna admits to Deeks that he has some personal flaws. Later, Deeks saves Hanna's life and ends up captured and tortured by Sidorov. In the season five premiere 'Ascension', after being found by Kensi and Granger, Deeks tells Hanna he didn't give up Michelle even under torture. Hanna visits him, stating he now owes him for the rest of his life for what Deeks did for him and Michelle. When Deeks admits he was thinking about quitting, Hanna said it would be a mistake, saying that Deeks is a great cop. In the following episode "Impact", Hanna is sent for mandatory counseling with Nate Getz by Hetty. Hanna explains that he is able to detach himself when tortured and then bring himself back to reality once it is over but is worried that there will come a day when he is unable to go back to reality.[23]

In the episode before the season 8 finale Michelle is murdered, leaving him devastated. The team had tracked her down after her abduction but found her too late. Season 9 sees Hanna coping with his grief while struggling to remain professional. LL Cool J commented on Hanna's state of mind: "He has a single minded focus and he wants to get to the people that did this and deal with them."[27]

The following are the medals and service awards fictionally worn by Senior Chief Hanna.[28]

Personal decorations Bronze Star Medal Purple Heart Joint Service Commendation Medal Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with gold award star Combat Action Ribbon with gold award star Unit awards Navy Presidential Unit Citation Navy Unit Commendation Service Awards Navy Good Conduct Medal with four bronze service stars Campaign and service medals National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal Kosovo Campaign Medal Afghanistan Campaign Medal Iraq Campaign Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Service and training awards Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with one silver service star Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon with three bronze service stars Foreign awards United Nations Medal NATO Medal Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) Marksmanship awards Navy Expert Rifleman Medal Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal

Other accoutrements Special Warfare insignia Naval Parachutist insignia 5 Service Stripes (reflecting 20 years of service)