DOD study: Slots on bases overseas
not leading troops to financial hardship
By Jeremy Kirk, Seoul bureau
chief
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
Steve Ray, 39, a civilian, enjoys playing the slot machines at the Yongsan Lanes, Yongsan
Garrison, in Seoul. |
YONGSAN GARRISON — Gambling on overseas military bases
doesn’t hurt the morale or finances of soldiers, a soon-to-be released Defense
Department study has concluded.
According to an executive report summary obtained by Stars and
Stripes, a “vast majority of patrons view slot machine play as an alternative
recreation opportunity.”
A summary draft of the report is circulating in the Defense
Department, but no release date is available, according to Maj. Dan Stoneking, a Pentagon
public affairs officer.
The decision to study gambling on bases came at the request of U.S.
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., who questioned whether the profit outweighed the negative
influence of gambling. Barlett is chairman of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Panel of
the House Armed Services Committee.
Barlett’s office declined comment until the report is completed,
said Lisa Wright, the congressman’s press secretary.
While some individuals have had isolated instances of gambling
problems, according to the report, data showed servicemembers generally experienced fewer
financial problems than those stationed in the United States.
Some of the report’s findings:
Thieves looking for easy
jackpot with slot machines
YONGSAN GARRISON — While servicemembers may have
tempered gambling practices, the slot machines are an attractive target for thieves.
This year in South Korea, slot machines have been hit
twice, with thieves scoring thousands of dollars:
• On May 2, $16,000 was stolen from slot machines
at Camp Casey’s Warrior Club in Tongduchon. The slot machines’ doors were forced
open.
• On Aug. 12, $27,000 was stolen from 17 slot
machines at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Club at Camp Market. Access was gained to
the club through a broken window. The slot machine doors, which require two keys, were
forced open. Damage to the machines was estimated at $8,500.
On Okinawa, a Navy Corpsman was accused in April of
siphoning $47,500 from slot machines at Kadena Air Base’s enlisted club.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Ricky A. Kirkland, who held a
job as a cashier at the Banyan Tree Club, was accused in a scam where money paid out for
jackpots didn’t match the jackpots recorded on the slot machines.
Two civilians, Jonetta Brown and Rhonda Jamison, told
Air Force investigators they also had been stealing from the slots. Kirkland was charged
with conspiring with the civilians to sign off on phony $500 payouts from October 1999 to
May 2000.
Kirkland’s case was dealt through nonjudicial
punishment, which isn’t releasable to the public. The civilians were ineligible for
prosecution because they did not fall under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
— Jeremy Kirk |
Junior enlisted servicemembers — generally those mostly likely
to face financial troubles — were the least likely population to use slot machines.
The gambling program “enhances force protection” by
minimizing exposure to less-controlled gambling designed to encourage compulsive behavior.
A range of financial counseling services are available, and
command-information programs warn servicemembers about excessive slot-machine use.
No data was available that specifically linked servicemembers’
financial problems to the overuse of slot machines, the report said. But a 1999 DOD survey
found overseas servicemembers had fewer instances of financial problems, such as bounced
checks or bill-payment troubles.
The upshot of the slot machines is the funding it provides for
Nonappropriated Fund activities — those not funded by taxpayer dollars. The funds are
used for the NAF Major Construction fund and the services’ recreational activities.
The profit from slot machines is a “major component” of
funding for recreational activities on post, the report also stated.
“Without slot machine revenue, the services could not fund
necessary capital investment to maintain current operations or construct new facilities
without a significant new source of cash infusion,” the report said. “Overseas
commands, where servicemembers have limited commercial recreational options would be
particularly impacted by a reduction of this magnitude.”
For fiscal 2000, slot machine revenue funded about 20 percent of U.S.
8th Army MWR programs in South Korea. The money was used to repair aging MWR facilities,
subsidize the cable TV program and replace MWR equipment.
Revenue from Army-run slot machines was $75 million in fiscal 2000,
according to the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center. About $50.8 million came
from 1,500 machines in South Korea, more revenue than any other country that allows U.S.
forces to have on-base gambling.
The U.S. military has gambling machines in the Pacific and Europe.
Gambling has been banned from domestic bases and on territories such as Guam and Puerto
Rico since 1965.
Back to August stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from July, 2001
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
