Colonel Spencer Free Wurst was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class 14-45, 31 May 1945. His first duty assignment was as a platoon leader with Company E, 2nd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with duty in the European Theater of Operations. | His Subsequent duty assignments include: Infantry Platoon Leader, Infantry Company Commander, Tank Unit Commander, 112th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Erie, Pennsylvania; Tank Company Commander, 112th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division, Camp Atterbury, Indiana and Germany, 1st North Atlantic Treaty Organization Forces; Battalion Operation S-3, 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry, Germany; Company Commander, Headquarters Company, 104th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, Erie, Pennsylvania; Regimental Operations Officer/Battle Group Executive Officer/ Battalion Commander, 112th Infantry Regimental Organization, Erie, Pennsylvania; G-3, Pennsylvania Army National Guard Headquarters, Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania.