About Our Founder
Dr. Joshua L. Barrett is a retired Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer with 25 years of combined military service, including time in the special operations community as a Special Warfare operator in both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. He later served as a Senior Counterintelligence Special Agent and Human Intelligence Officer, operating at the tactical, operational, and clandestine levels across eight combat tours, and at the strategic, clandestine, and covert levels during his tenure with the Department of Defense. He holds a Level III Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection certification, is credentialed as a Global Counter-Insider Threat Professional (GCITP) and brings deep expertise in Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM).
Following his military career, Josh built and led insider risk and threat programs across private and public organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Intelligence Studies from the American Military University, Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security from Penn State University, an Executive Certificate in Strategic Leadership from Liberty University, and a Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Liberty University, where his original research identified five critical gaps in leadership preparedness for insider risk management. His emergency management credentials include FEMA certifications in the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework, Fundamentals of Emergency Management, Critical Infrastructure and Resilience, and Homeland Security Planning.
Based on his extensive operational experience, Josh has developed full Emergency Operations and Protection Plans for two congregations, integrating behavioral threat assessment and management principles with the same operational discipline used in enterprise security environments to address the unique culture and mission of the local church. He founded Sheepdog Sentinel because he believes faith communities deserve a guardian who takes both the threat and the theology seriously.
Josh is a committed follower of Jesus Christ and an active member of his local church. He understands that a house of worship is not simply a facility to be secured but a community called to be open, welcoming, and faithful.
Sheepdog Sentinel exists to protect that calling.