What's fair on a job interview?

I did a phone interview for a mail transportation foreman position today. This company, like most companies doing business with the US Government, has a large group of SOP's (standard operating procedures.)

I decided I needed to do some homework for this interview, as I had done two other interviews within the last couple of weeks, and felt inadequately prepared for both of them. For this one, I checked out a set of SOP's dealing with transportation so I could be better prepared. I had the SOP's with me during the interview, and made it known to the three people doing the interview I had them with me. The HR representative was the last person to ask questions, and he asked if my supervisor was in the office with me, and I responded no, I was alone. He then commented he thought it wasn't fair for me to have the SOP's with me, as there were other candidates who would be interviewing, who would not have the SOP's with them. I commented I thought it was part of being prepared as best as I could. He is going to check with his manager, to see what the manager thinks, and will get back to me later today.

I talked to my supervisor afterward, and told him about the interview and the deal with the SOP's. He suggested I probably should have not mentioned I had the SOP's with me.

I happened to see the Chief Warrant Officer, who is in charge of oversight of our post office, and told him about it. His opinion was I had done the correct thing, as it wouldn't be in writing if you were required to memorize it. I said true, but this company is sort of funny about stuff, and the HR guy was very not impressed with the situation. My thoughts were, this will either land me the job, or get me fired. Chief said, "No, no, no. The only thing that should get you fired, are a violation of General Order Number One, being disrespectful, or striking someone." I really value the opinions of Chief. He is close to my age, and is a career military officer. He attained his current rank because he uses his head for something other than a hat rack. I have not known him to talk down to anyone, or to give bad advice.

As part of operations security, I won't mention any one's names on any of my posts. The thinking is, names could fall into the wrong hands, and family or friends could be tricked into giving information useful to the enemy, or the enemy could use the information to cause harm, either physically or mentally, to family or friends. A lot of the "commercials" on Armed Forces radio and television are about OPSEC procedures. I agree with the military recommendations about OPSEC, as better to be safe than sorry. When I receive personal mail, I destroy names and addresses on the packages, and keep the envelopes and cards when I receive personal mail.