However, we were short enough to feel a larger bond with the men and a desire to preserve their lives and their desire for unlimited rules of engagement. As a result, this has led to combat units being only as effective as their methods of circumventing the rules of engagement. Military commanders sought to modify the ROE to allow troops to pursue opposing forces until their destruction or surrender. (Moss 177). Battalion commanders were responsible for knowing and acting in accordance with the rules of engagement. However, it depended on the type of force they were leading and the operations they were carrying out to determine whether they regarded the ROEs as guidelines or simply ignored them completely as essentially useless. Although both VC and NVA forces repeatedly violated Cambodian neutrality, US forces were never allowed to pursue their enemies into Cambodia or attack areas populated by Cambodians. (Moss