Brigadier General Ullrich Spannuth began his military career in 1984, as an Officer Cadet at 33rd Tank Battalion near Hannover, located in the North of Germany. Upon promotion to 2nd Lieutenant in 1987 he attended the Bundeswehr University in Hamburg, to study Educational Science. Following completion of his degree in 1991 he was assigned to 93rd Tank Demonstration Battalion (93rd TDBn) in Munster, where he served as both a Platoon Commander and S2 Officer. 93rd TDBn became his military home, with Brigadier General Spannuth serving as both Company Commander from 1994 to 1997 and as Battalion Commander from 2005 to 2007. In 2017 he took command of 9th Tank Demonstration Brigade "Niedersachsen", also located in Munster. He held this position until 2019.
Following attendance of the National General Staff/Admiral Staff Course at Bundeswehr Command and Staff College (BCSC), he held positions of Desk Officer and Chief of Operations Afghanistan at the German MoD. Other assignments include lecturing at BCSC and General Staff Officer positions in J-Branches, within the Bundeswehr Joint Forces Operations Command in Potsdam, near Berlin. Multinational posts have seen Spannuth posted to various HQs and Commands. From 2007 to 2009 he was the Deputy Military Adviser to the German Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, USA. Additionally, between 2010 and 2012 he was ACOS G3 at 1st German/Netherlands Corps in Muenster, before becoming the XO to the Chief of Staff within SHAPE, from 2013 to 2015.
During his time as Brigade Commander, his Brigade was tasked as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force Land (VJTF-L). This marked the first time Germany was the lead for the Multinational VJTF. Brigadier General Spannuth has twice deployed on international operations. Firstly, he deployed to Bosnia with SFOR, as a Company Commander in 1998, and secondly as Commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kunduz, Afghanistan, between 2012 and 2013. In his most recent assignment, he was the Commander of the German Army Armour School, between 2019 and 2022. Within this post, he commanded the Armoured, Reconnaissance and Artillery Branch Schools.
Brigadier General Spannuth lives in the Hannover Region, has two daughters and likes hunting, hiking and modern history.
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