A lot of e-mails like these have come in:

I was amused that “bowling” conferences are apparently a big deal. It goes to show the general level of ignorance about military bases and the need to provide a “home” on base for our service members. There are a lot of bowlers in the service.
I left the Army in 1973 after three years and three months on active duty and two years nine months in the reserves. I was a volunteer in the Viet Nam era serving in Viet Nam from March 1969 until March 1970 as a combat engineer in Tay Ninh province.
I trained for quite while in the states; Ft. Ord, CA, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, Ft. Benning, GA, Ft. Belvoir, VA, and Ft. Campbell, KY. ; each of those installation had on or more bowling alleys either free standing or attached to the Enlisted Men’s Club, the NCO Club, or even (I think it was Benning) to the Officer’s Club. At Ft. Ord and Ft. Leonard Wood there were two, one in “Splinter Town” our nickname for WW II or Korea era barracks and one in the new barracks.
If you have no where to go, and no one special to be with, a bowling alley and 3.2 beer with pizza or burgers is a good place to pass time. That the military sends managers and staff of these clubs to conventions and seminars about their responsibilities is about as surprising to me as the sun coming up.

And:

12 yrs as an Air Force officer, six as a DoD contractor, none of that time involved in any of these areas other than as a user….
With the possible exception of the last two conferences in the list, I would say they were justified. Nearly every DoD installation of any size has a bowling alley, golf course, billeting (on-base motel, essentially), and a craft shop. Many have museums. I would expect the managers to stay abreast of the latest information, and conferences are a good way to do this – get ideas on how to better manage the facilities, meet with sales reps for new equipment, etc. You don’t send the whole staff to these things, but one person every couple of years or so.
I’ll bet the attendees at the wildlife conference were Army Corps of Engineers types. Lots of what they do would affect wildlife habitat and its watchability, but would have to know more to be able to justify their participation. ACE gets into a lot of “green” areas.
LaRaza is a stretch, though. I’m empty here.
The golf courses, craft shops (which often include woodworking, framing, auto repair), and bowling alleys are Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) outfits and all operated with what’s called non-appropriated funds (NAF). In other words, Congress does not pay for the operation of these facilities. They are funded through surcharges on items sold at base exchanges and what the military members pay to use the facilities. What I don’t know is if conference attendance would be through appropriated (taxpayer) funds, or with NAF, but I would presume the latter. There could be taxpayer funding of the initial construction or for things like utilities – don’t know that level of detail. But by and large these operations are independent of Congressional funding.
There are a crapload of other conferences that DoD members attend that are not listed. I went to several scientific conferences while on active duty and I’m sure the rest of DoD attends many conferences in industrial, scientific, engineering, and other technical areas that are very well justified in a set of one-liners. For Sen. Coburn to list the conferences he did without context ($$ spent to attend the ones listed or DoD justification why it was spent) is a cheap shot and beneath what I expect of him. He should get back to flogging Ted Stevens for his bridge to nowhere or the federally-funded parking garage for a private university (Creighton Univ. just north of here) until he digs a little more.