GAO Report Shows the Pentagon is Unprepared to Help Personnel with Gambling Disorders

A rising number of gambling disorder cases in US service members is met with no solution from the Pentagon, the Government Accountability Office claims in a report released last week.

According to the said report, younger military personnel are more likely to gamble due to a propensity to take bigger risks.

The GAO discovered that while the steps personnel must take to identify and address gambling disorders have been updated, no one has been assigned to spearhead the process.

The report stated that the military personnel diagnosed with a gambling disorder numbered 185 in 2024, with Kristy Williams, a defense, capabilities, and management director at the GAO, saying that it’s possible that not everyone was diagnosed at the time:

“What that does not include is any individual who did not seek treatment from a medical provider and possibly any that might have sought help but did not meet the diagnostic threshold.”

Possibilities for Help Presented

The GAO presented the Pentagon with nine possible ways to help improve that military personnel receive to be supported with issues related to gambling.

To prevent, diagnose, and treat gambling disorders, the GAO told the Defense Health Agency that the different parts of the military need to make changes to their policies.

Several programs that utilize revenue acquired from slot machines provided to bases outside of the US are used to help fund things like morale and welfare, or even other programs that support child care and different kinds of infrastructure.

While such programs are utilized, the report states that no ways to deter those afflicted with gambling disorders have been implemented by the locations in which the programs are active.

Shocking Discoveries

The 2024 study showed that around 4.7% of personnel answered positively on whether they had lied about gambling or felt compelled to up their bets.

Of the personnel the study covered and had gambled in the last 12 months, 15,039 people in total, 2.7% admitted they had been feeling agitated, with around half of the respondents suffering from depression or anxiety, and in some rarer instances from substance abuse.

Around four or five of the conditions need to have been exhibited within 12 months in order for the person to receive the diagnosis.