However, they were weak enough to feel a broader connection to the men and the desire to preserve their lives and their desire for unlimited rules of engagement. Therefore, combat units were only as effective as their methods of circumventing the rules of engagement. Military commanders have sought to modify ROEs to allow troops to pursue opposing forces until they are destroyed or until they surrender. (Moss 177). Battalion commanders were responsible for knowing and acting in accordance with the rules of engagement. It depended, however, on the type of force they led and the operations they conducted as to whether they viewed the ROEs as guidelines or simply ignored them as essentially useless. Even though VC and NVA forces repeatedly violated Cambodian neutrality, U.S. forces were never permitted to pursue their enemies in Cambodia or attack areas populated by Cambodians. (Mousse