rank and file vs personnel

rank and file and personnel both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
rank and file	Yes	No	No	No
personnel	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, personnel is a hypernym of rank and file; that is, personnel is a word with a broader meaning than rank and file:

rank and file: the ordinary members of an organization (such as the enlisted soldiers of an army)
personnel: group of people willing to obey orders

Other hypernyms of rank and file include force.

rank and file (noun)	personnel (noun)
the ordinary members of an organization (such as the enlisted soldiers of an army)	group of people willing to obey orders
people who constitute the main body of any group	the department responsible for hiring and training and placing employees and for setting policies for personnel management