# File (formation)

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{{short description|Military unit of troops aligned one behind the other}}
[[File:U.S. army troops marching in single file.jpg|300px|thumb|Troops from the [U.S.](/source/United_States_Army) and [Bangladesh](/source/Bangladesh_Army) march in single file during a tactical [training exercise](/source/Military_exercise) in 2014.]]

In [military organization](/source/military_organization), a '''file''' is a number of [troops](/source/troops) drawn up in line ahead (i.e. one behind the other) in a [column](/source/column_(formation)). The number of files is the measure of the width of a column of troops in several [ranks](/source/rank_(formation)) one behind the other.<ref name=MC55>McNab, p. 55.</ref><ref name="S9">Schwartz, p. 9</ref><ref>Holbrook, p. 10.</ref><ref>United States Army, p. 9.</ref>

==Usage==
Files are useful when troops don't know where the enemy is, since there are overlapping fields of fire from each soldier, and cover from a possible flanking attack. Files are at a disadvantage when there are heavy weapons nearby, supported by infantry, especially [machine gun](/source/machine_gun)s and [tank](/source/tank)s.<ref name="MC55" /><ref name="S9" />

== Ancient Greek use ==
A file of men in the Greek [phalanx](/source/phalanx) was called a [lochos](/source/lochos) ({{Langx|el|λόχος}}) and usually ranged from eight to sixteen men.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asclepiodotus, Tactica, chapter 2 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0556.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2 |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |title=Royal military panorama, or, Officers' companion |oclc=8007063 |year=1813 |volume=3}}
* Duparcq, Edouard Le Barre (1863). ''Elements of Military Art and History: Comprising the History and Tactics of the Separate Arms; the Combination of the Arms; and the Minor Operations of War''. D. Vand Nostrand. {{oclc|3104705}}
* Holbrook, John (1826). ''Military Tactics: Adapted to the Different Corps in the United States, According to the Latest Improvements''. E. A. Clark. {{oclc|3139910}}
* McNab, Chris (2007). ''Combat Techniques: An Elite Forces Guide to Modern Infantry Tactics''. Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-0-312-36824-1}}
* Schwartz, Richard B. (2008). ''Tactical Emergency Medicine''. Williams & Wilkins. {{ISBN|978-0-7817-7332-4}}
===Web sources===
* {{cite web | url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/5-10/appa.pdf | title=Basic Formations, Movement Techniques, and Hand-and-Arm Signals | publisher=global.security.org | date=2001 | accessdate=15 June 2015 | author=United States Army | format=PDF}}

Category:Tactical formations of the Napoleonic Wars
Category:Tactical formations

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