BRANNON-THOMAS

MANY  YEARS  OF  SERVICE  TO  THE  NAVY

Thomas Edward Brannon was born on June 25, 1937.  He began a long association with the Navy when he served on active duty during the 1950s, was assigned to the light cruiser USS WORCHESTER (CL-144), and advanced to the rate of Chief Petty Officer.  After his release from the Navy, Brannon was later commissioned as a Military Intelligence Officer with the U.S. Army Reserve with the rank of Captain. 

From 1958 to 1962, Brannon was employed as a policeman in two towns in Southern California.  On March 5, 1962, he commenced employment as a Special Agent with the Naval Investigative Service (NIS), the forerunner of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and had an illustrious NIS/NCIS career of 27-years, with overseas assignments for 16-years in Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Italy, and England.  For almost 25-years of his NIS/NCIS service he was a polygraph examiner and earned a legendary reputation for the many important and critical investigations in which he participated. 

Brannon retired from civilian employment with NCIS on August 3, 1989, but then continued his lifelong law enforcement career in California with the Contra Costa Sheriff Department (Intelligence Unit), Solano County (Coroner’s Investigator), Alameda County (Workers Compensation Fraud Investigator), and State of California (Senior Industrial Medical Unit Investigator).  After finally settled into retirement in late December 2007, Brannon wrote, “In ending a law enforcement career spanning 50-years, I must say I look back with pride in my service to the community; however, nothing I have done prior or since my employment with NIS/NCIS has ever brought the satisfaction I had in my service of three decades with NIS/NCIS.”

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)