Details of a Defence Force inquiry into fatal attacks in Afghanistan have been released this afternoon, along with footage of one of the incidents.

The Defence Force will today present the findings of a Court of Inquiry into two incidents which resulted in the deaths of five New Zealand soldiers in Afghanistan last year.

The family of a soldier who drowned hope the Defence Force's expected guilty plea will help prevent a repeat of the "myriad" of errors that lead to his death.

The Defence Force will be sentenced after a guilty plea over the death of Private Michael Ross, who fell from a boat during a training exercise near Waiouru.

An army trainee died when a vehicle he was travelling in crashed with an "almighty bang" into a power pole near Dargaville on Friday night.

Weapons and military equipment worth more than $330,000 have been stolen over four years from the Defence Force.

A former soldier caught with a loaded rifle during a police domestic call out the day after he was discharged from the Army for disciplinary breaches has been convicted today.

Six translators who helped elite NZ troops in Afghanistan and who fear for their lives are demanding to know why they haven't been granted asylum like other interpreters.

Human error is likely to have contributed to the death of soldier Private Michael Ross who died during a training exercise near Waiouru, according to a former Army chief.

It's every soldier's greatest fear - the unseen enemy. The improvised explosive device (IED) buried beneath the road, which is detonated by Afghanistan insurgents who lie and wait for Coalition soldiers to pass.

The United States has flown highly sophisticated Global Hawk drones through New Zealand airspace, official papers reveal.

A soldier who died after falling into a Waiouru lake during a training exercise should have been able to release a 20kg gun easily, the former Chief of Army says.

A 25-year-old soldier was injured after falling 5 metres into a dry riverbed near Dannevirke.

When a handful of surviving veterans of the legendary 28th Maori Battalion rose yesterday, they knew they had one more special mission.

Some family members of Corporal Douglas Hughes say they want an open inquest to satisfy their questions over the soldier's death.

The coroner who declined a full inquest into the suicide of a gay soldier is a Mormon church elder who attacked same-sex marriage in a submission to Parliament, saying it was an unnecessary "social experiment".

A leaked report has strongly criticised the training given to an army contingent sent to Afghanistan which lost five of its members in combat.

Two wounded soldiers were put at risk by Defence bosses who decided to fly them back to New Zealand with their killed comrade.

Sol Te Whata, 95 today, reckons his uncle's blessing before he left for World War II was one of the things that brought him home safely.

A senior Taliban leader thought to be behind a roadside bombing in which three New Zealand soldiers died has reportedly been killed by coalition forces.

A new fundraising trust has been set up to help families of New Zealand soldiers wounded or killed in Afghanistan.

An armed military man found dead at Linton Camp had recently separated from his partner and mother of his two children.

A 23-year-old man has died at Linton Army Base following a stand-off with police lasting more than five hours today.

The family of Private Michael Ross say they are relieved the soldier's body has been found, a week after he fell into a lake near Waiouru.