The soldier killed Thursday in a military exercise at Schofield Barracks was identified yesterday as a 35-year-old Virginia man.

Sgt. Allen Stevens, a signal support systems specialist, was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. He is survived by a wife and two children.

Through an Army spokeswoman, the family asked yesterday for privacy.

Stevens was the third 25th Infantry soldier to die in training-related accidents since March. The Army said yesterday the cause of Stevens' death is under investigation.

Stevens was killed during "training for a live-fire exercise" at Schofield, the Army said. The circumstances of his death were not released. He was taken to Wahiawa General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Sgt. Stevens," said Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division, in a news release yesterday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time of loss."

Stevens, a native of Chesapeake, Va., joined the Army in November 2002 and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in July 2003.

Four months ago, Alexander E. Creighton, of Romoland, Calif., was killed and nine other soldiers were injured when the truck they were in rolled over and caught fire during a training exercise in California. The 23-year-old was one of about 5,000 Schofield soldiers training at Fort Irwin for deployment to Iraq.

Officials said the covered truck was returning from field training at about 9 a.m. when it failed to negotiate an "S" curve along a dirt road.

Also, in March, Staff Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez was killed by a mortar blast during training on the Big Island. The 27-year-old, of Beeville, Texas, was an Iraq war veteran.

His mother has said she was told there was a malfunction of an 81 mm mortar as the weapon fired. Rodriguez was knocked down, and apparently did not realize he had been hit until it was too late. He died of blood loss and a collapsed lung.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.