US Army Photographer that captured her way to death.

Hilda Clayton, 22, captured the moment of her death in her final photo. Credit: Hilda Clayton/US Army/AP

A US army photographer's haunting image showing the bomb blast that claimed her life has been made public.

Hilda Clayton, 22, took the photograph of a mortar exploding and engulfing an Afgan soldier in flames just moments before her death during a training exercise together with Afghan forces.

She was killed together with an Afghan recruit she was training and several members of the Afghan National Army forces.

Army bosses have released her extraordinary photograph four years after the fatal accident during live-fire exercises in Laghman Province.

Ms Clayton served in the specialist army communications 55th Signal Company, the US army's only active duty 'Combat Camera' team.

Hilda Clayton, 22, was killed together with an Afghan recruit she was training. Credit: US Army/AP

Her final image was published in the army's Military Review journal this month.

It said her death "symbolizes how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts".

The army has honoured Ms Clayton by naming its annual combat photography competition after her in tribute to her service.