Dolly Parton's Nephew Bryan Seaver's Military Background Revealed

Dolly Parton's nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, served in the military for two years and earned a couple of accolades, TMZ has learned.

U.S. Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge tells TMZ ... Bryan served as military police in the Alabama National Guard from June 1996 to July 1998.

We're told he didn't have any deployments and left the Army ranked private first class. For his service, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

As we previously reported, Dolly's manager, Danny Nozell, filed for a temporary restraining order against Bryan -- which a judge granted -- claiming he was "invoking his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence" to extort Nozell.

He claims this alleged threatening conduct is why Bryan got the boot as head of security for Dolly's properties.

For his part, Bryan has maintained that the messages mentioned in Nozell's lawsuit were taken out of context -- not actual threats.

Bryan previously told TMZ ... "I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster. A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving."

Dolly tapped Bryan to record a video announcing her death.