The announcement that 150 NZ Defence Force personnel will begin pre-deployment training for Iraq at Linton and Waiouru military camps has been condemned.

New Zealand troops have been given the go-ahead to begin training for a likely deployment to Iraq.

A Defence Force instructor stripped to his underwear, called a female recruit into his room and told her "he wanted to thrash me", a court martial has heard today.

A member of the army who has accused a more senior non-commissioned officer of offences against her testified at a court martial.

"If it wasn't for the defibrillator mum wouldn't be here." When Natalia Shaw watched firefighters save her mum's life, she was inspired into training as a medic for the NZ Army.

An army sergeant has been found guilty of a charge of failing to comply with written orders, following the death of a soldier during a training exercise.

Soldier accused of intimidating a woman into having a threesome says the sex was consensual and he walked her home afterwards.

Tears and broad smiles were everywhere as naval families were reunited today after three long months at sea.

A soldier who died of head injuries he suffered in a league game at Linton Military Camp has been farewelled at the army base.

Ayoung army officer who died after receiving a knock to the head during a friendly rugby league match at his base has been remembered by his family as the "perfect son".

New Zealand defence personnel are on their way home after the world's largest military exercise in Hawaii.

Willie Apiata has moved on from his job helping at-risk youth - and is now being handled by Richie McCaw's management team.

A whistleblower alleges that as the war in Afghanistan reached its deadly zenith, Kiwi forces were asked to use booby-trapped mines to combat insurgents.

A senior Army officer is expected to face disciplinary action after he wrongly signed off approval for soldiers to fire live bullets in training exercises.

Some of the most fearless warriors in military history have been taking part in a biennial exercise with the NZ Army in the South Island.

A former SAS soldier has been kicked out of the Defence Force today and jailed for four months after conning Army bosses into paying for a weekend away with his wife.

Military chiefs have admitted they do not have a "well-developed" understanding of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

The family of dead soldier Rory Malone claim the Defence Force have treated them like 'second-class' citizens and the insensitive handling of his funeral arrangements caused them unnecessary stress.

Major-General Tim Keating has been named the new Chief of Defence Force.

A New Zealand soldier faces a court martial, accused of planting explosive devices in Afghanistan. The soldier is a member of the ill-fated Crib 20 deployment.

An experienced reservist soldier who admitted filming a female colleague having a shower at a military barracks has today been kicked out of the Defence Force.

Social isolation facing war veterans and an anomaly that denies war pension support to a partly dependent parent after a soldier dies in action were among issues highlighted at a Dunedin conference on veterans' health yesterday.

Willie Apiata has paid tribute to his mother, calling her a hero who kept the family together through difficult times.

The family of Private Michael Ross, who drowned during a training exercise, has welcomed a judge's ruling that slams the Defence Force for systemic safety failings.

After Private Michael Ross went missing during an army training exercise, his family clung to the hope he was playing with them and would turn up and surprise them.