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  Lateral exercises

  Soldiers from Fort Lee's Logistics Noncommissioned Officers Academy advanced leaders course participate in lateral exercises during a physical training session April 18 at Williams Stadium.

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  Shuttle run

  A group of students engage in a light shuttle run.

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  Power skipping

  Staff Sgt. Danishia Page power skips over a short distance

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  Prone row

  Sgt. Christopher Force executes repetitions of the prone row

FORT LEE, Va. (April 25, 2013) -- The U.S. Army has always linked physical conditioning and combat readiness, but the Army's Physical Readiness Training program goes further.

Using the principles of training such as "train as you will fight" and "train to sustain" as its foundation, the recently-implemented PRT is geared toward preparing Soldiers and thus units for the full spectrum of operations. That means readying Soldiers for every task and mission they could face such as throwing a grenade or participating in a patrol.

If you are an old Soldier, you may not recognize a physical training session in today's Army. It may look more like a football practice session than traditional PT. During a recent PT session for the Logistics Noncommissioned Officer Academy students at Williams Stadium, Soldiers were seen conducting drills that included an odd-looking assortment of exercises such as laterals, verticals and power skips.

The traditional exercises were present too -- the high jumper, lunges and squat bender to name a few, but today's PT is not your father's PT. It is different, more detailed, specified, robust and battle-focused. The NCOs at the academy now have the responsibility of helping the rest of the Army not only learn the program but convey its importance to combat readiness.