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Before starting the job, James had been instructed to go to another building to get the floor wax-stripping compound. When he got there, no one was around, so he got the compound himself. The problem was he instead of getting wax stripper; he had gotten a compound used to clean metal and electronic circuits. As he buffed the floor using the compound, the tile began to disintegrate. We had to replace the entire floor.

James did not have a driver’s license and he wanted to drive. The boss finally relented said he could try to get his license and them he would determine if he would let James drive.

James would go to the hanger where we had the trucks parked and sit in one, pretending to drive. Once while he was practicing, another sailor was hiding in the back seat and wearing a Halloween mask. He rose and sat in the rear seat; saying nothing. James looked into the rear view mirror, saw the monster, gasped, and did nothing else. After a few seconds of James not moving, the sailor with the mask tried to talk to him—James was frozen in place. We had to pull him from the truck and talk to him for a long while, before he came around. We did not try scaring him any more after that. 

To drive a truck, the driver had to operate a mobile radio in the truck to get movement information from the airfield control tower. To talk on the radio, one had to use proper military radio procedure. James never could get the knack of proper radio usage. He wanted to talk on the radio was if it was a civilian CB radio; ten four good buddy, putting the hammer down, and such. 

Finally, after much coaching, he went for his driver’s test. He barely passed the written test. While taking the driving portion of the test, just as he was starting out, James ground the gears, spun the tires, shot out of the parking lot, and traveled across the road into a ditch. James did not get his driver’s license.

After a while, James' novelty wore thin with us. It was obvious he was not any help to us since he caused more problems than he solved, so we tried to pawn him off on someone else. The base requested we sent them a worker to help install cable television cables in barracks rooms. We sent James. We got James back the same day. To install the cables, they were using long masonry drill bits to drill holes through room walls in the barracks. The drillers were instructed to make sure the other side of the wall was clear of objects before they drilled through a wall. James drilled into an occupant’s bowling ball in one room. He was given another chance. Iceland is well known for its sheep products, including sheepskin rugs, so most people in the barracks had at least one. Most were hung on the wall as a room decoration. James drilled through a wall into a rug, spinning it around and around the bit until the rug was shredded. The work crew decided they did not need any help more help from us.

James had managed to stay in the Navy because he was such a nice guy who always tried to do his best, but it had to end sometime. One night he had an argument with his roommate in the barracks, and had stabbed the roommate in the earlobe with a screwdriver while the roommate was asleep. This incident got James to the legal office. After a lawyer talked with James, it became obvious that James should not be in the Navy. James may have been nice guy who always did his best, but he was not Navy material. James was not prosecuted, but was administratively discharged from the Navy and sent home.

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