Greg Pedrick - Fellow

Greg Pedrick is a busy man. As the Veterans Caseworker in the Office of Congressman Andy Harris, Pedrick acts as an advocate for the former servicemen and servicewomen in Maryland’s largest Congressional district. That equates to dozens of open cases at any one time, hundreds of miles in outreach efforts, and an intimate acquaintance with government bureaucracy.

But for Pedrick, it’s all worth it. “There’s nothing better,” he says, “than following a case through from start to finish and getting the result you’re looking for.”

Pedrick, who earned his position as a fellow in the House of Representatives’ Wounded Warrior Program, performed two tours of duty in Iraq during his service in the U.S. Marine Corps between 2003 and 2007. Afterward, he studied political science at Towson University. He was working in security at Johns Hopkins University when he found the Wounded Warrior Program through a veterans group on Facebook.

On a typical day, Pedrick gets to his office early in the morning and makes a list of all the people he needs to speak with that day. Then he starts “pounding the phones” – his phrase for building relationships throughout the various veterans organizations on behalf of his constituents. “I like to get in as many phone calls as I can,” he says. “Whenever I get through to someone, I get their extension so I don’t have to go through the regular avenue next time.” He also spends a lot of time dealing directly with the veterans on whose cases he’s currently working.

“Our biggest challenge," Pedrick says, “is communication.” And he says the key to overcoming that challenge is people. “I try to develop connections with the staff I talk to at the different veterans’ organizations,” he says. “I do whatever I can to help the veteran I’m working for take the next step.” That sometimes involves a lot of research. When one veteran constituent was being charged copayments for medication, Pedrick gathered evidence in support of the veteran’s claim and successfully resolved the issue with the insurance company.

Pedrick, who grew up in Catonsville, Maryland, says he might look to work at the Department of Veterans Affairs after his fellowship, but that’s still a couple of years away. In the meantime, his goal is to simply “get stuff done” for the veterans in his district. “Some people begin to feel fed up,” he says. “I want to reassure them, let them know ‘I’ve got your back, you don’t need to worry, I’m going to do everything in my power to get you what you need.’”