Dr. Nate Galbreath

Dr. Nate Galbreath is the Deputy Director for the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO). In this position, he is the Department’s expert for prevention and response programs and their relationship to behavioral health, forensic science, criminal investigation, and sex offender assessment and treatment. The Department selected Dr. Galbreath in December 2016 to be a senior executive and fill the role of Deputy. Dr. Galbreath previously served as the Department’s Highly Qualified Expert on Sexual Assault Prevention and Response from 2012 to 2016 and was Acting Director of SAPRO from May 2019 to September 2020. He has been affiliated with SAPRO since May 2007 when he served as SAPRO’s first military deputy director before retiring from the Air Force in 2009.

He holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and a Master of Forensic Science from the George Washington University. He has also completed several internships and fellowships, including a fellowship in Forensic Medicine at the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC, and a clinical psychology residency at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, MD. 

Dr. Galbreath has been a primary author on the Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military since 2007. In addition, he has testified on behalf of the Department of Defense at hearings before Congress, the Human Rights Commission, and several Federal Advisory Committees supporting the Department’s progress on countering sexual assault in the military. In addition to advancing policy and oversight initiatives, Dr. Galbreath also oversees SAPRO’s operations, including the DoD Safe Helpline, the Defense Sexual Assault Incident Database, and the Defense Sexual Assault Advocate Credentialing Program. 

He entered the Air Force in 1989 after completing a B.A. in Spanish and International Affairs at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA. He was assigned to Howard Air Force Base, Panama, from 1989 – 1990 as a Special Agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). He went on to serve 11 years with AFOSI as an agent, a forensic science specialist, and a Detachment Commander (Special Agent in Charge) at Air Force bases in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. 

Dr. Galbreath’s clinical experience focused on treating and researching sexual dysfunction and sexual disorders. He also evaluated and treated sex offenders with Dr. Fred S. Berlin at the National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma, which is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, MD. He also served as the Behavioral Health Clinic director at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, where he supervised mental health, family advocacy, and alcohol/drug treatment programs from 2004 to 2007. He is currently a licensed psychologist in the state of Maryland. 

Dr. Galbreath serves as a Professional Lecturer in the Forensic Sciences at George Washington University and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology at USUHS. Dr. Galbreath has published a considerable body of work both alone and with co-authors, including book chapters on child molesters, sexual disorders and the Internet, and sexual assault in the military, as well as journal articles relating to sex offender recidivism, online sexual problems, and sexual assault prevention in the military.