The United States Army has identified the American general killed during Tuesday's shooting incident in Afghanistan as Major General Harold J. Greene, of Falls Church, Virginia. He was 55.

Greene and about 15 others including eight more American soldiers were shot by what Afghan authorities have said was a "terrorist" dressed in Afghan military fatigues.

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The terrorist used an automatic weapon to fire at the victims, as they were visiting the military academy to see the progress of training for future Afghanistan military officers.

Afghan security personnel shot and killed the assailant.

Greene was deputy commanding general of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan based in Kabul, and was making a routine visit when the incident happened.

Greene had been serving the U.S. military for the last three decades. He was commissioned as an engineer officer in the U.S. Army in 1980 after earning an undergraduate degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Aside from serving in Afghanistan, General Greene had also deployed to Iraq.

During his career, Greene received a number of advanced degrees, including a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.

Before he was assigned to tge Afghanistan posting, he was the deputy for acquisition and systems management for the assistant to the secretary of the Army. He also had worked in the army's research and development work in Aberdeen, Maryland, and Natick, Massachussets.

Greene was known for having been a proponent of the use of new technology for soldiers, encouraging the adaptation of iPads and video games in conceptualizing training tools.

A 2011 story on the New York Times quoted him as saying, "We have to adapt to where they are," as he explains how young soldiers have grown up with all kinds of gadgets, and how these could be used for enhancing training as well as real performance in field and combat scenarios.

When news of his death spread in his quiet Falls Springs cul-de-sac where he had lived with his wife Susan, neighbors remembered him as a regular fixture in the community who would go for morning runs with former service members in the community.

"He was a good guy," said retired Army Col. Duane Myers. "Harry was loved."

Like many other families with loved ones serving in the military, the Greenes have a Blue Star flag hanging near their front door. Their son Matthew is also in the Army. Their daughter, Amelia, has recently graduated from Binghamton University in New York state.