A 22-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who deployed to Iraq in September was killed on Tuesday, the Department of Defense said yesterday.

Pfc. Casey P. Mason, of Lake, Mich., died in Mosul of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small-arms fire, Pentagon officials said.

Mason was a military police officer assigned to the 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command.

He joined the Army in October 2006 and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in April of 2007. Mason's 552nd Military Police Company deployed to Iraq in September.

"The 8th TSC treasures the life of every soldier and mourns the loss of Pfc. Mason," the command said in a release.

Officials said Mason's family was requesting privacy. A memorial service will be held next week at Schofield Barracks.

About 550 Hawai'i soldiers are deployed to Iraq from the following units: the 536th Maintenance Company; elements of the 728th Military Police Battalion; the 552nd Military Police Company; the 82nd Engineer Company; and the 8th Human Resources Sustainment Center.

The soldiers are serving in Taji, Tikrit, Mosul and Ramadi. More than 7,000 Schofield soldiers recently returned from more than a year in Iraq, and the Stryker brigade of about 4,000 soldiers will leave for Iraq after Thanksgiving, but company-sized elements of Hawai'i soldiers also are often rotated into Iraq.