US Troops Face Gambling Addiction

US troops face many hardships overseas. Equipment malfunctions, hostile environments and situations, loneliness and separation from loved ones. Among these challenges, there is one many people don’t expect: gambling addiction.

The four branches of the armed services operate over 4,000 slot machines located in nine bases overseas. According to the New York Times (October 19, 2005), about $2 billion flows through military-owned slot machines at officers’ clubs, activity centers and bowling alleys on overseas bases each year.

More than 90 percent of the money wagered is returned to some of the players as winnings, but the remainder is kept by the military as revenue for its ‘morale, welfare and recreation’ activities. This is about the same ratio as casinos in Las Vegas.

Gambling & the Military

Slot machines have been on some military bases since the 1930s. The machines were banned from domestic military bases in 1951, but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1960s. They were removed from Army and Air Force bases in 1972, after more than a dozen people were court-martialed for skimming cash from slot machines in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

1,500 machines remained on Navy and Marine Corps bases overseas after the scandal, and in 1980, the Army and Air Force began restoring machines at many overseas bases. According to the military, approximately 4,150 modern video slot machines exist on military bases in nine countries today.

Slot machines are "a very profitable operation," said Peter Isaacs, to the New York Times. Isaacs serves as the chief operating officer of the Army’s Community and Family Support Center, which runs the largest slot machine program. "But we do not operate them strictly to extract profit. Our soldiers have told us they want access to the same games and gambling opportunities available to the civilians they are defending."

According to Isaacs, the military is "very passive in our advertising, and we have low maximum jackpots. We don’t want to encourage people to blow the rent money chasing a $1 million payout."

However, Thurston Smith, Substance Abuse Program Coordinator for the Veterans Health Administration, in Charleston, SC, emphasized that those serving overseas are still vulnerable. "With a significant number of military personnel deployed oversees and elsewhere, coupled with the lack of familiar resources and social support systems, it is not surprising that many service men and women might find themselves ‘hooked’ on gambling."

Affects on Military Personnel

The military’s best guess about the number of its service members who are vulnerable to gambling addiction comes from the Pentagon’s Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel. The 2002 publication of this survey, which is conducted every two to three years, indicated that about 1.2 percent of all service members, or about 17,500 people, had reported five or more behaviors identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Exhibiting five or more of these characteristics is an indication of probable pathological gambling, according to the American Psychological Association. This rate roughly matches the incidence in the civilian population.

The survey may even understate the problem, and not just because of the demographics of the military population. (See below) Because the report relies on people to self-identify their problems, the number of people with gambling addiction may be higher. Major factors preventing people from seeking treatment are shame and secrecy, and this can be exacerbated in a military setting were rules governing client confidentiality may not apply.

The Scope of the Problem

PricewaterhouseCoopers, in preparing a report for the Pentagon on problem gambling, noted "a general lack of accessible treatment for gambling addiction." These concerns were echoed in a research paper written by a team of Navy and Marine Corps medical personnel last year, describing a gambling addiction program started in Okinawa in January 2003.

The paper, entitled Review of the First Year of an Overseas Military Gambling Treatment Program, was published in the August 2005 edition of the journal Military Medicine. "The fact that few treatment options exist for military personnel, their family members" and other personnel at overseas bases "is not disputed," reported the paper. "Prior to the start of the present program in Okinawa, no formal overseas treatment options for pathological gambling existed."

There were 35 participants in the Okinawa program averaging 33.2 years of age and 10.3 years of active duty. 25 participants were serving in active duty, seven were spouses of active duty members and three were Department of Defense (DoD) civilians. The average reported debt per person in the study was $11,000 and average reported losses were $24,000.

Collateral Damage

The Okinawa research showed that military personnel, as well as their families, are susceptible to gambling addiction. The report stated that in "...environments in which women may feel lonely and alienated - which is frequent in overseas locations where family and established friends are not available and spouses are often deployed - there may be an increased risk of developing a gambling problem."

Another concern was the impact of limited confidentiality, which exists in military mental health treatment. "[M]any patients, particularly high-ranking active duty and general schedule employees had significant concerns about their confidentiality." Without confidentiality, many people with gambling addiction may never come forward.

Finding Solutions

This is a critical issue for the DoD, according to Smith. "Everyone who provides gambling opportunities has a responsibility to develop policies and programs to address problem gambling issues."

Smith suggests the DoD implement "responsible gaming" - efforts directed toward reducing the negative impact of gambling among military personnel - and include these programs within all U.S. Armed Forces Morale, Welfare and Recreation departments; prepare DoD addiction professionals to treat problem gambling through advanced level training and education; and utilize some of the revenues generated from gambling to off-set costs for the implementation of new programs and policies.

"Without a strategy to ensure all military personnel and families get support, people will continue to suffer," said Smith.