When now Major Bobby Brannen graduated from high school in 1974, he had no idea what career he wanted. Now he’d like to work at the Tift County Sheriff’s Dept. for another 17 years so he can meet the 50-year career mark.

“The Lord has let me realize over time that there are a lot of things worse than working for a living,” Brannen said. “One of those things is not being able to.”

Tift County Sheriff Gary Vowell recently promoted Brannen to the rank of major. Brannen was standing in the agency’s criminal investigation’s division with his former co-workers (he headed that department from 1979 through 2003) when Vowell walked in.

“He (Vowell) had something in his pocket and he took it out, but I stepped back,” Brannen said. “Vowell and I go back to junior high school so I didn’t know but what he had a bug or something in his hand.”

Brannen finally took what Vowell had in his hand and when he saw the lapel pin — an oak leaf designating the rank of major. Brannen said he reluctantly took it from Vowell.

“I told him he had a lot of folks that deserved it,” Brannen said. “From the day the sheriff told me he was promoting me, honestly, it was quite a humbling experience.”

Brannen took a job at Tifton Aluminum when he graduated from high school. Two months later he was laid off and thinking of what he wanted to do with his life.

“I had a new car with payments and didn’t know what to do,” Brannen said. “I got up one morning with the idea of law enforcement and got to thinking about job security.”

Brannen talked with Edd Walker, who was Tift County’s sheriff at the time. Brannen said Walker told him he wished he was a little older. Then Tifton Police chief Hugh Smith told Brannen the same thing when he went to talk with him about the possibility of a job. He then went to talk with Henry Dean, who was then Ocilla’s police chief, when he heard there were two positions open in that department.

“He (Dean) asked me how old I was and rolled that cigar around his mouth with his tongue and looked me up and down,” Brannen said. “Then he asked me if I could be there at 10 that night and I told him yes.”

Dean asked him to bring his own gun and Brannen and his mother shopped at Jordan’s Gun Shop. They bought a .38-caliber revolver, a black duty belt, handcuffs and a case and a holster.

“I went that night and rode with Herman Chaney,” Brannen said.

Brannen went on to graduate from ABAC’s Police Academy in 1975.

Walker hired Brannen, who was just 19 years old, on Jan. 12, 1976.

“I had considerably more hair and it was a different color then,” Brannen said.