Lynnae is a journalist covering the intersection of technology, culture, and gambling. She has more than five years of experience as a writer and editor, with bylines at SlashGear and MakeUseOf. On the iGaming side,...
Read Full BioA new report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on September 22 warns that the Department of Defense (DOD) lacks clear and consistent policies to address problem gambling among service members.
According to the watchdog: “In 2025, the Defense Department updated its guidance…However, it did not fully define all the new responsibilities for tasks such as assigning staff trained to diagnose and treat service members with gambling problems.”
The findings highlight gaps in prevention, inconsistent service-level policies, and limited data collection. Given these weaknesses, the GAO concluded that military personnel may be left underserved, even as demographic factors such as age and risk-taking tendencies place them at a higher risk than the general population.
Only a month earlier, the Senate Appropriations Committee backed landmark funding for military gambling addiction research, an indication of how seriously it views the need to strengthen prevention and treatment for active duty military personnel and veterans.
Incomplete Oversight & Policy Guidance
While the DoD updated its guidance on problematic substance use to include gambling disorder and added new measures to address problem gambling, it stopped short of spelling out who’d be responsible for putting those requirements into practice.
As GAO explains in the report: “By defining all roles and responsibilities for gambling disorder prevention and treatment, and by ensuring that subsequent updates are made to service-specific guidance to meet the new requirements for gambling disorder, DOD can increase its ability to address issues related to gambling among service members.”
Since the DoD hasn’t provided clear direction, military branches have not updated their own service-level policies to reflect the updated requirements, leaving uncertainty around prevention and referral processes.
Even though the DoD operates slot machines at some of its overseas bases, it has failed to consistently apply responsible gaming practices, such as limiting access for members with a gambling problem or posting signage with resources for those who need help.
Recommendations for Action
To address the gaps the report found, the GAO issued the following recommendations:
- The Defense Health Agency should issue detailed guidance that clearly defines all roles and responsibilities for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
- The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force should set timelines to review and update their service-level policies in line with the new DoD instruction.
- DoD should revise its instruction governing Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs to include responsible gaming requirements for overseas slot machine operations.
- Each service should update its MWR guidance once DoD revises the overarching policy.
- Responsible gaming practices at overseas facilities should include consistent measures such as signage warning of gambling risks, training for staff, and restrictions on access for individuals identified with gambling problems.
The DoD partially concurred with the first recommendation, saying responsibility for issuing implementation guidance should rest with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs rather than the Defense Health Agency.
