Echelon formation

One of its earliest uses was at the Battle of Leuctra, when the Thebans attacked the Spartan right with a column 48 men deep while their weaker center and right were repelled.

In particular, it is commonly employed by armored cavalry because of the large, overlapping fields of fire that it gives to each tank in the formation, and by combat aircraft, allowing them to communicate visually and maneuver as a single unit.

This is commonly seen in asphalt roads subject to shear stress imposed by aseismic fault creep.

In mathematics, the term row echelon form refers to a kind of matrix where the non-zero elements are shaped in an echelon-like manner.

In road bicycle racing, an echelon formation is a diagonal line of racers, which allows cooperative drafting in crosswinds.