Fort Carson welcomes new police chief

By Jordyn McCulleyMarch 6, 2023

Fort Carson, Colo. –  Ricky Oxendine, deputy director of emergency services, swore in Brandon Graber as the new Chief of Fort Carson Police March. 1 at Fort Carson Police Station. He has been at Fort Carson since December 2002.
Fort Carson, Colo. – Ricky Oxendine, deputy director of emergency services, swore in Brandon Graber as the new Chief of Fort Carson Police March. 1 at Fort Carson Police Station. He has been at Fort Carson since December 2002. (Photo Credit: Jordyn McCulley) VIEW ORIGINAL

Story by Anissa Connell

FORT CARSON, Colo. - Chief Brandon Graber was promoted to Fort Carson police chief during a promotion ceremony March 1.

“I honestly would not be up here without every single person in this room,” said Graber. “Thank you so much for what you do for me and what you do for the organization and the Fort Carson community every single day. I greatly appreciate it.”

Graber was born and raised in Wisconsin but has been at Fort Carson since December 2002. Graber served six years in the Military Police Corps with duty stations including Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Carson.

Throughout Graber’s assignments, he served as a gunner, driver and team leader. Graber also deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Upon finishing active-duty service, Graber was hired as a Department of the Army police officer at Fort Carson in September 2004.

“This is a great opportunity,” said Ricky Oxendine, deputy director of Emergency Services. “Brandon, I’ve known you since 2015, when I came from overseas to Fort Carson. You’ve done a phenomenal job with everything that you have done.”

Since then, Graber has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, patrol sergeant, desk sergeant, operations officer, watch commander (lieutenant), chief of Patrol Branch (captain) and chief of Operations (captain).

During his time as a Department of the Army Civilian, Chief Graber served in several duty roles including, GPC billing official, emergency operations center (EOC) representative, the law enforcement representative for the Mountain Post Exercise and Evaluation Team (MPEET) and training instructor.

“I’ve known Brandon for about seven or eight months, and I can tell you that he’s been nothing but professional since I got here,” said Lt. Col. Scott P. Nelson, commander of the 759th Military Police Battalion. “Full of eagerness to make things better every single day, he’s quite the asset. A wealth of knowledge here, so I’m very proud that we were able to pick him as our next police chief.

Graber is also certified as a peace officer in Colorado.

From January 2016 to October 2021, Graber worked as a watch commander for the Fort Carson Police while also working as a Reserve officer for the Fountain Police Department.

During his tenure with Fort Carson Police Department, Graber received multiple awards, including the Civilian Service Commendation Medal and the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service.

Graber said he is excited about what the future has in store for Fort Carson. He is also looking forward to working with community partners to ensure that Fort Carson Police Department is a forward-thinking, highly respected organization and provides industry-standard law enforcement for the Fort Carson Community.