  In its three years of operation, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III)
Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-1) observed
$>$14,000 stars with enough epochs over a sufficient temporal baseline for the
fitting of Keplerian orbits. We present the custom orbit-fitting pipeline used
to create this catalog, which includes novel quality metrics that account for
the phase and velocity coverage of a fitted Keplerian orbit. With a typical RV
precision of $\sim100-200$ m s$^{-1}$, APOGEE can probe systems with small
separation companions down to a few Jupiter masses. Here we present initial
results from a catalog of 382 of the most compelling stellar and substellar
companion candidates detected by APOGEE, which orbit a variety of host stars in
diverse Galactic environments. Of these, 376 have no previously known small
separation companion. The distribution of companion candidates in this catalog
shows evidence for an extremely truncated brown dwarf (BD) desert with a
paucity of BD companions only for systems with $a < 0.1-0.2$ AU, with no
indication of a desert at larger orbital separation. We propose a few potential
explanations of this result, some which invoke this catalog's many small
separation companion candidates found orbiting evolved stars. Furthermore, 16
BD and planet candidates have been identified around metal-poor ([Fe/H] $<
-0.5$) stars in this catalog, which may challenge the core accretion model for
companions $>10 M_{Jup}$. Finally, we find all types of companions are
ubiquitous throughout the Galactic disk with candidate planetary-mass and BD
companions to distances of $\sim6$ and $\sim16$ kpc, respectively.
