rank and file

• rank-and-file

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

rank and file (uncountable)

1. Enlisted soldiers in a military organization, as would be arrayed in a grid pattern with ranks and files.
2. (idiomatic) Members of an organization who are not in leadership positions.

   The executives attend meetings in exotic locations while the rank and file stays at headquarters doing the bulk of the work.

   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

     First, a prominent Tory called the party’s rank and file “swivel-eyed loons.”