External Hard Drive "You don't have permission" intermittent issue

Hi -
We have three iMacs that are networked using Airport Extreme.  Computer 'A' has an external USB hard drive plugged in to it.  I have "file sharing" turned on, and using "get info", I have shared the external hard drive with Computer 'B' and Computer 'C'.  Most of the time, opening or saving files to the shared hard drive works without any problems, but occasionally (perhaps twice a day) any of the three computers will display an error message that says "You don't have permission" to save, or open or do anything with a file.  It can happen on any of the three computers at any time with any file.
In the "Sharing and Permissions" portion of a "get info" window for the shared hard drive, it correctly says "dougshaffer (Me)" and "everyone" have "Read & Write" privileges.  To fix the problem, I have to unlock the drive, click the gear wheel and choose 'Apple to enclosed items...".  This solves the problem temporarily but it will certainly happen again later. 
Also, every time I have to go through this process, I have to re-check the "Ignore ownership on this volume" check box.  It will not stay checked even with the lock ON.
I have searched for this issue but can't seem to find a solution.  FYI, this has happened with two different hard drives.
Any suggestions?
Thanks -
Doug

I see that a few people have viewed this question, but there are no responses yet. 
Any thoughts, anyone?
THANKS!

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