Georgia Department of Veterans Service

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Georgia Department of Veterans Service
Department overview
Formed1940s
JurisdictionGeorgia
HeadquartersFloyd Veterans Memorial Building, Suite E-970
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Department executive
  • Patricia Ross, Commissioner
Parent department
Government of Georgia (U.S. state)
Websiteveterans.georgia.gov

The Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS) is an agency of the executive branch of the U.S. state of Georgia that advises, counsels, and assists Georgia veterans and their families in securing federal and state veterans' benefits.[1] By December 2021, the department had existed for "nearly 80 years."[2] GDVS operates statewide Veterans Field Service Offices, two state veterans memorial cemeteries, and two skilled nursing homes for veterans, and serves as Georgia's federally designated State Approving Agency for veterans' education benefits.[1][2]

History and leadership

GDVS is governed by the State Board of Veterans Service, whose members are veterans appointed by the governor to staggered seven-year terms subject to Senate confirmation; every four years the board appoints the department's commissioner.[3]

Pete Wheeler, a World War II Army veteran and later brigadier general in the Georgia National Guard, joined the department in 1949 and was appointed its director, a position later retitled commissioner, on June 26, 1954.[4] Wheeler went on to serve continuously until his death in 2015, a tenure of 61 years under twelve Georgia governors that made him, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the longest-serving state commissioner in U.S. history.[5] During his tenure, Wheeler created the "Supermarket of Veterans Benefits" outreach program in 1966 and oversaw the establishment of the department's nursing homes and memorial cemeteries.[4]

Mike Roby, a U.S. Army veteran who had served as Wheeler's assistant commissioner, was appointed commissioner effective July 1, 2015, and was reappointed in 2019 before retiring in October 2021.[6] Dr. Patricia "Trish" Ross, a 25-year U.S. Air Force veteran and former installation vice commander of Robins Air Force Base, became the department's third commissioner on December 1, 2021.[2] Ross had previously served as founding chief operating officer of the Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center.[2]

Organization

GDVS maintains an appeals division within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Atlanta Regional Office, operates Veterans Field Service Offices across the state, and provides representatives at VA medical centers in Atlanta, Augusta, and Dublin.[1] The department owns the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville and the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home in Augusta, the latter operated under contract with Augusta University, and maintains veterans memorial cemeteries in Milledgeville and Glennville.[1] In 2024, GDVS reported that Georgia veterans received nearly $5.2 billion annually in compensation and pension payments from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.[2]

Headquarters

GDVS is headquartered in the Floyd Veterans Memorial Building, a wing of the James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Building complex in downtown Atlanta named in recognition of the state's veterans-service mission.[7]

See also

References

  1. "Georgia Department of Veterans Service". Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  2. "Patricia Ross". Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  3. "State Veterans Service Board". Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  4. "Commissioner Pete Wheeler, 1922-2015". Georgia Department of Veterans Service. April 21, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  5. "Pete Wheeler, 92: Dedicated to veterans for 66 years". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  6. "Mike Roby". Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  7. "Georgia ADA State Resource Network". Southeast ADA Center. Retrieved June 21, 2026.