The head of New Zealand's anti-doping agency says athletes are failing to speak out against drug cheats within their codes out of loyalty to their team mates.

A Kiwi soldier wounded by friendly fire in Afghanistan has paid tribute to a US Air Force search and rescue crew after they received one of the US military's highest honours.

Lieutenant General Tim Keating was sworn in as Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force at a ceremony in Wellington today.

'Nothing was located.' A jet-skier's reported sighting of a World War Two sea mine sparked a fruitless search in Lyttelton Harbour.

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.

Two defence staff killed themselves and seven others attempted to do so in the past year.

An SAS soldier has been fined $4700 at a court martial in Auckland this afternoon for stealing service property, but can remain in the Army.

Testing for anabolic steroid use should be considered by the NZ Defence and Police forces, a coroner has recommended following an inquest.

A staff sergeant in the SAS has told a court martial about how surplus United States military equipment, including a truck, was used by New Zealand armed forces in Afghanistan.

One of the charges against a SAS soldier facing a court martial has been withdrawn this morning.

A SAS soldier accused of stealing service property didn't know the gun accessories were owned by the Army, his defence lawyer told a court martial today.

New Zealand's navy officers are combing through parts of the Solomon Islands in a bid to rid the country of World War II explosive remnants.

The Navy's offshore patrol vessel has set off again for the Southern Ocean to monitor fishing in the region.

The Defence Force paid US$1,000 to the families of two elite Afghan soldiers who were killed while the SAS was mentoring them.

Old soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder with serving troops this morning to commemorate Armistice Day on the 95th anniversary of the end of World War I.

A new twin-engined air force helicopter will need all its rotors repaired or replaced, at a cost of millions of dollars, after being hit by lightning.

The first female Papua New Guinea army officers have just completed a rigorous training exercise, with the help of a New Zealand Army Captain.

A gay and lesbian support group in one of our most conservative institutions - the military - has won the supreme award in this year's Equal Employment Opportunities Trust diversity awards.

An SAS raid which left two people dead and gave rise to claims of murder by the elite soldiers led to $10,000 compensation paid for each person killed, a new film claims.

The Defence Force may have a legitimate role in maintaining the military strength of the nation but since when was its job to suppress information?

Prime Minister John Key says neither New Zealand's domestic and foreign spy agencies, the SIS and GCSB, have been involved in surveillance of journalist Jon Stephenson.

A former Defence Force chief says he is concerned by a leaked Defence Force document that lists investigative journalists as subversive threats.

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.

The death of a soldier who drowned when he fell off a boat during a training exercise on a lake was accidental but could have been prevented, a Court of Inquiry has found.

New Zealand will withdraw its military personnel from the Solomons after 10 years as part of a peace-keeping mission but some NZ police personnel will remain.