Bartholomew: Madness, wasn't it? A puny force of 20 behind enemy lines, launching an incursion against Raphael and his loyalists.
Castiel: It was a calculated risk.
Bartholomew: I thought you'd gone insane, and I questioned your leadership, second-guessed every step of the campaign. But you were my commander. I held my tongue. I followed orders. Raphael fled. Most of his loyalists, dead or captured. Your gambit paid off. You...Won.
Castiel: We won.
Castiel 🤝 Leonidas
If you're familiar with the 300 movie
Okay but Cas was so brilliant that they went back to him in season 9
Also here is some interesting facts about being a garrison commander
Garrison commanders solve wicked problems and punch way above their weight class. Their work also generates readiness disproportionate to the size of their command.
Every day, garrison commanders and their teams work in a dynamic environment that directly links tactical actions to strategic outcomes. Each one is responsible for the security, housing and welfare of soldiers, civilians and families living on their installation. They deploy forces, host unaccompanied children and Afghan refugees, lead through a pandemic, respond to extreme weather, manage training areas and support the local community.
Strategic Role
Garrison command produces strategic leaders who are well-versed in resource management and budgets, and who routinely solve complex problems without formal authorities. These are the skills and abilities required at the strategic level.
Garrison commanders also are marketable to private industry and often separate after command to serve in high-paying management careers. The Army must fight to retain these highly talented officers and place them in positions of greater responsibility.
Whilst this is the human equivalent. It has me thinking on what the angel equivalent would be
this is so cool! I have many hc of Castiel's previous military exploits, including leading a prior large scale angel rebellion in response to the mass slaughter of innocent children in biblical Egypt as Naomi alluded to. In that case, he would have been a leader who had to not only find creative ways to fight overwhelming power of heaven, but also protect and support civillians on a large scale. Just like such "garrison commander" who rose up to the occasion and "punch above his weight class", in this case to serve his conscience and do what's right.
I also recognize Castiel's approach in this prior civil war to be of a "maneuverist warefare" approach.
"Manoeuvre warfare is a mental approach to conflict in which we seek to create and exploit advantage by creating a rapidly and continuously changing situation in which our enemy cannot effectively cope. We aim to do this by focusing our strengths against critical enemy vulnerabilities, generating superior tempo and distracting or disorienting our enemy through ambiguity or deception"
– 1994 Royal Australian Armoured Corps Manoeuvre Warfare Handbook.
Castiel's force of 20 went behind enemy lines by creating a rapidly deteoriating situation with which the enemy can not cope.
