Lieutenant General Tim Keating sounds tired.

Considering the last trip he took with his wife was their honeymoon, 31 years ago, sounding tired is fair enough.

"That's the last time we together had a holiday."

Keating recently left his post after four years at the top. It was a tumultuous time, with controversy flaring up over historical allegations from New Zealand's time in Afghanistan, and with the military making some adjustments to the modern world.

READ MORE:

* Jonathan Milne: No rah-rah, just respect for heroes

* Kiwis treat sports stars as heroes 'but not soldiers'

* Tim Keating to stand down as Chief of Defence

* 'Persistent' sexism, abuse reports in military

* Special investigation: The Valley

He left with his head held high, proud of achievements under his watch, and saying that his reason for going was that his contract was simply up and he felt it was time to find out what civilian life was like.

SUPPLIED Three year old Fatima was reportedly killed during a New Zealand SAS raid in Afghanistan. NZDF tried to take down graffiti around Wellington calling the SAS "murderers".

But before he took his final salute, Keating sat down for a farewell interview, taking stock of his time and answering critics.

With no plans or set career path to step into, Keating is simply going to see where life takes him.

This is different from his career path in the military where he has slowly worked his way up the chain of command to the very top.

Keating joined the military in 1982 as an Officer Cadet.

HAGEN HOPKINS / GETTY Lieutenant General Tim Keating will get a taste of civilian life after a long stint with the Defence Force.

He became second in command of a Rifle Company in 1985 and shortly after joined the New Zealand Special Air Services Group, more commonly known now as the SAS.

He then went on to work his way up the ranks into the chief of army role, followed by Vice Chief of the Defence Force before finally being appointed as the and then Chief of the Defence Force.

Keating says he never thought he would get to this role and neither did his father.

Most comments made about him during his schooling years were "has potential, if he decided to use it".

Chuckling as he recalls these remarks, Keating clearly decided to use a lot of potential in his four years at the top of the Defence Force, tackling a number of difficult issues as well as overseeing a number of changes.

One major project Keating initiated was Operation Respect, which launched in 2016.

"There had been cases of extreme behaviour towards women reported and at the other end, bullying and harassment."

He describes this behaviour as "corrosive" and says the initiative that was rolled out provided sexual ethics and healthy relationships training to tackle persistent sexism.

Keating says the training looks at what is right and wrong and is helping change the culture within the military.

"It's about empowering the most junior person to say 'I'm not OK with that'."

He says they want to create an environment where rank is there to determine roles and respect, but it's not about power.

"You can still call them out, and our people are starting to do that."

While holding the role Keating's also faced a lot of criticism and challenging times.

Allegations of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, which saw a Government inquiry recently launched, is just one of the issues raised while Keating was in charge.

The inquiry is set to look into allegations made into Operation Burnham in 2010, which was the subject of the book Hit & Run.

That book, by investigative journalists Jon Stephenson and Nicky Hager, alleged civilians died during an SAS operation in Afghanistan.

It says SAS soldiers failed to help those wounded, then covered up their actions.

The Defence Force originally said the allegations in the book were not credible as the location of the villages where they were to have taken place was not the site of Operation Burnham.

However, in March, it confirmed the location of a village in the book was the same place where the operation took place.

Keating says he welcomes the inquiry as it would ensure the public's trust and confidence in the systems they have in place.

When Keating resigned, he specifically said it wasn't due to the allegations made in Hit & Run, and he says the inquiry actually helps highlight an area he wants to make more transparent, which is the way their military justice system works.

"We conduct investigations in that same way as a criminal court.

"It's not only uniform staff, and we take it deadly seriously.

"We can't step back and brush stuff under the carpet and look the other way, and even if I wanted to, our legal system wouldn't allow that."

With a review of their military justice system happening at present he says it provides a good opportunity to show what the system is like and make changes where they are needed.

Keating says when accusations arise people often just expect him to say sorry and apologise.

But in any situation, he says he needs to go back and look at the facts and see whether there is something behind the accusations made.

Despite conversations around historical incidents in Afghanistan, Keating says the public still shows confidence and trust in the Defence Force.

In a recent international transparency rating, the New Zealand Defence Force received one of only two A ratings, which he was proud of.

"Despite comments around historical things in Afghanistan the public have confidence and trust in us."

But he says as an organisation there is is more they can do to keep the public of New Zealand informed.

He believes something the Defence Force gets caught between is trying to maintain security to protect their people in a physical sense, but also trying to tell New Zealanders about the good their people are doing overseas.

"We treat our top sports stars as heroes but [we have] people ... doing really neat stuff on behalf of New Zealand but they don't get that recognition.

"It would be nice for our people in the community to acknowledge just what those Defence Force people do as part of those communities.

"How many mayors go out there when their troops come back from deployment?

"It would be nice if some leaders go out there and shake their hands."

Looking into the future Keating says he is pleased to leave behind a Defence Force plan, which creates clear steps forward for the organisation.

Previously their planning was more short-term, which posed challenges.

"No one expected us to be in East Timor for six years."

The plan includes new equipment, which Keating says is vital.

"You don't want to get other peoples cheap stuff when they are down in the Southern Ocean patrolling.

"You want to get them something that works ... that wasn't built in 1962."

Keating is replaced by Air Vice-Marshal Kevin Short.

THE VALLEY

The former Chief of Defence has hit out at what he believes were personal and professional attacks on himself.

In an interview with Stuff before he left the position, Lieutenant-General Tim Keating said he took professional umbrage to claims he was trying to cover events up.

He was speaking about coverage of New Zealand's time in Afghanistan, particular after the book Hit & Run, and the Stuff documentary series The Valley, both of which made allegations about the SAS.

Keating refused to be interviewed for The Valley, and repeatedly turned down requests to be interviewed by the Stuff Circuit team which made the documentary.

But in his exit interview with Stuff, Keating, a former SAS trooper and commander, said, if anything, he was harder on soldiers as he knew the level of professionalism required.

"We judge those people really, really harshly."

Hit & Run, by Jon Stephenson and Nicky Hager, made allegations about civilian deaths during an SAS raid in 2010, while The Valley included claims from military sources and villagers about the lead-up and the aftermath of a 2004 SAS firefight.

Keating said he had heard of an instance where military children were walking to school and passed graffiti saying "SAS murders", which they took really to heart.

"They are good New Zealanders and I take great umbrage for people to believe that in this day and age New Zealander could go out there and kill women and children and destroy their houses."

The allegations in Hit & Run are the subject of a Government inquiry.

Keating said he asked for an investigation into the SAS allegations contained in The Valley soon after they was published in August last year.

"I'm investigating, I'm hoping people expect that I was."

He expected the findings to be released soon.

In the documentary, villagers and military sources said NZ SAS troopers had provoked the firefight, mistreated bodies of the dead, kicked in doors and tied up innocent civilians.