This sentence says that he is a man of habit and discipline.
A man of habit is someone who does the same thing in the same way with regular tendency. Moreover, a man of discipline is a man that carries out a task because he knows that it is his duty to do it. This sentence implies that the major is a man of habit and discipline because even though he does not hope that the machines will work, he tests them every day because he feels that it is his duty.