James joined the Royal Navy in May 1991 as a Pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. During his career, James has flown over 14 different types of Helicopters on Operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Sierra Leone, and on Exercises from the Arctic in Northern Norway, the jungles of Brunei and the Iraq desert. In Belize, James flew in support of the American Drug Enforcement Agency and their missions. A pilot with the UK Maritime Counter Terrorist Squadron, James flew a number of missions with this elite group. More recently James was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry in Iraq in 2003 This was the first time a DFC has been awarded to a Fleet Air Arm pilot in over 50 years.