Veteran Who Raised Awareness for Problem Gambling Celebrated in Awards

From his teenage years through his military career, Andy Gallie has been dealing with gambling addiction, which he has been able to navigate and overcome by focusing his efforts on raising awareness for the issue.

One Man Who Realized Gambling Was His One True Love – and Who Changed That

However, his journey into addiction was not necessarily and entirely self-inflicted, as gambling was prevalent. On the army base where he served, there were between 40 and 50 fruit machines that “normalized gambling.”

Gallie recounted a familiar tale of gambling becoming his “true love” and only purpose, with the man spending multiple hours gambling every day, and shunning responsibility and social contacts. This behavior naturally took a toll on him, and his personal life soon started unravelling.

“Gambling was my one true love. I’d do anything to keep people away from my gambling. That included gaslighting and deflection,” he explained. However, Gallie’s turning point has been helping others. He joined the Armed Forces Gambling Support Network and channeled his impulses into helping others.

His personal experience with gambling-related harm quickly rubbed off on others, and he was soon helping people, who attested that Gallie had saved their lives. He has been helping both people who live with a gambling addict as well as people who have suffered from addiction themselves.

Army Veterans Bear the Brunt of Gambling-Related Harm

For these contributions towards helping army veterans and their families, Gallie has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2025 Soldiering On Awards in the Education, Training and Development Award Category.

Raising awareness for gambling problems in the military has long been taboo, but more voices are being heard. Army veterans often turn to gambling as a form of escape, coping with stress, and more serious diseases, such as PTSD.

Organizations such as GambleAware have specifically said that there needs to be more done to help specific vulnerable groups, such as minorities, but also army veterans, and even the prisoner population in the UK, all of whom are disproportionately experiencing the negative impact of gambling-related harm.