A Schofield Barracks soldier was killed yesterday morning during training in preparation for a live-fire exercise at a Schofield range, the Army said.

It was the third training-related fatality for the 25th Infantry Division in less than half a year.

The name of the soldier killed was withheld pending notification of family. The cause of the accident is under investigation, officials said.

The Army did not release details on the training exercise or its location. Kendrick Washington, a base spokesman, said, "Anything that we would provide would lean towards identifying the soldier."

In May, Pfc. Alexander E. Creighton, 23, of Romoland, Calif., was killed and nine other soldiers were injured when the truck they were riding in overturned and burst into flames during training exercises in California.

Creighton was among 5,000 Schofield soldiers who were training at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert. Creighton's battalion was playing the role of opposition forces during the exercise for Hawai'i troops now on their way to Iraq.

The San Bernardino County coroner's office said Creighton was in a covered truck that failed to negotiate an "S" curve along a dirt road. The truck, returning from field training at Fort Irwin, crashed at about 9 a.m.

In March, Staff Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez, 27, was killed by a mortar blast during training on the Big Island.

The Iraq war veteran's mother, Janie Edwards, has said she was told there was a malfunction of an 81 mm mortar and explosion as the weapon was fired.

Soldiers close to her son told her he was knocked down, but didn't realize at first he had been wounded severely in the side. The Beeville, Texas, native and father of a 5-month-old son had a collapsed lung and died from blood loss on the way to the hospital, his mother said.

Another soldier's arms were severely injured, she said, and a third lost an eye. She was told it was a rare type of weapon malfunction.

Washington said an Army investigation into Rodriguez's death has not been completed.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.