FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska — A Texas soldier based at Fort Wainwright has been killed in Afghanistan.

U.S. Army Alaska officials in a release Friday identified the soldier as 26-year-old Rodolfo Rodriguez Jr. of Pharr, Texas. Authorities say he was killed Wednesday by insurgents using a pressure-plate improvised explosive device.

He joined the Army in March 2006, twice served in Iraq. The infantryman was assigned in March 2010 to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at the Alaska base. About 4,000 soldiers from the brigade deployed for a year's tour in Afghanistan in April.

He previously served three years with the 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.