DOD study finds no significant harm
from slot machines at overseas bases
Staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has concluded that the
thousands of slot machines on overseas U.S. military bases pose no significant harm to the
morale or finances of American troops.
The Pentagon spent more than six months studying slot machines for a
report ordered by Congress.
Investigators acknowledged “isolated instances where slot
machine use has had a negative impact on specific individuals.”
But the report said military personnel stationed at overseas bases
that offer slot machines actually experience fewer instances of financial problems than do
those stationed in the United States.
The report offers no theory as to why that is the case.
The military operates about 8,000 slot machines at 94 installations,
all overseas. The 1,500 machines in South Korea generate more revenue than any other
country that allows U.S. forces to have on-base gambling.
Army-run slot machines produced $75 million in revenue in fiscal
2000. Slot machines in South Korea produced $50.8 million alone.
Slot machine revenue funded about 20 percent of U.S. 8th Army MWR
programs in South Korea.
The report said the department will take new steps to make sure
access to the machines is restricted only to people 18 and older who are eligible to
participate in military recreation programs.
U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, who wrote legislation requiring the study,
said he accepts the conclusion but believes troubling questions remain.
“I am concerned that this study shows that more than half of
junior enlisted troops report they experience financial problems each year,” said
Bartlett, the Maryland Republican who chairs the House Armed Services panel on morale,
welfare and recreation.
“Slot machines may not be the cause,” he said, “but
too many of our service people, especially the youngest and most junior, are in financial
distress.”
The Pentagon report says slot machines are a means of recreation for
servicemembers and their adult family members, and provide an important source of revenue
for building and operating youth centers, clubs, golf courses, bowling centers, cabins,
marinas and car washes.
Military personnel and civilian employees poured roughly $1.2 billion
into the machines in 1999. More than 92 percent of the money wagered is returned to
players as winnings. The remainder — some $127 million in 1999 — is kept by the
military as revenue for its morale, welfare and recreation activities.
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