File

File (Fr. file, 'a row,' from Lat. filum; Ital. fila, filo), in a military sense, is used to signify one line of men standing directly behind each other, as rank refers to men standing beside one another. In ordinary two-deep formations, a file consists of two men, one in the front rank and one in the rear rank. Single-file formation signifies one man from a single rank followed by the men on his right (or left) in succession. Rank and file is a term often used to mean the private soldiers of a regiment only, but it really includes also the corporals, who are therefore sometimes called rank and file non-commissioned officers.