All kinds of punishment. For example, if someone honked, or got out of his car and asked what was happening, he would get to sit there for another two or three hours; retroactive punishments that commanders decided to apply.

Checkpoint commanders?Yes.

Was these done with the approval or knowledge of their superiors?No. As far as the company commander was concerned, officially, he generally tried to see to it that such things would not be allowed, but he also said such conduct was not such a big deal if someone did not obey orders. His own conduct, when he went out on missions, also pretty much left the soldiers with the impressions that, "Okay, he'll do whatever he wants and tell us not to do anything" (…). There was no norm for punishment. We were not told what to do. The point was to keep the checkpoint quiet, no chaos. Some interpreted this as carrying out professional inspections and letting people through and others as frightening them, being more aggressive, which in itself isn't exactly lawful either.

What about taking away gear, IDs, car keys as a punitive measure?We didn't do much of that, but, because we were at a checkpoint that is very close to many villages, at least two or three people came to us every day complaining that Border Patrolmen took away their IDs and told them to go look for them here, or at Salem. IDs, car keys, all sorts.

And no one did that at your checkpoint?No. There were very explicit instructions against that.