Journal Sentinal -- A 33-year-old former Brookfield resident and U.S. Army sergeant has died in Iraq after his Humvee was hit with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire, according to the soldier's former girlfriend, who also is the mother of their 11-year-old son.

Scott J. Brown, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, was riding on the passenger side of the vehicle on Friday in Baghdad when the bomb exploded, said Kristen Leedom, who lives in New Berlin.

She said it was unclear whether the bomb was thrown at the vehicle or if it exploded from the road.

"The vehicle blew up," Leedom said. "He died instantly."

Leedom said two other soldiers in the vehicle also died.

Brown has a wife who recently got out of the military and lives near Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Leedom said.

Brown has been in the Army since 1998. He had spent all but six months of the last three years in Iraq, she said.

Before that, he had been stationed in Afghanistan, she said.

"He loved the military," Leedom said. "It was his passion."

However, she said he had been upset about all of his comrades who had been killed in Iraq.

Leedom and Brown, who were sweethearts at Brookfield Central High School, have a son, Taylor James Brown, who lives with her.

She said Taylor is having a hard time taking his father's death.

"His dad is his idol," she said. "They had a lot of plans for the future when he got out of Iraq."

The 82nd Airborne is an elite airborne infantry division. It conducts parachute assaults, according to the division's Web site.

Brown is the 74th member of the armed forces from Wisconsin to be killed while serving in Iraq.