Former chief of army Lou Gardiner says he's disappointed the Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Rhys Jones, will not have his contract extended.
The Defence Minister has confirmed the general will stand down when his three-year contract comes to an end next year.
Mr Gardiner says Lieutenant-General Jones is an intelligent and forward thinking chief who has a lot left to offer.
He says the general had a turbulent three years as chief because he inherited a lot of difficult matters within Defence including fallout from the 2010 Anzac Day helicopter crash that killed three servicemen.
He also had the job of finding up to $400 million in savings - cuts which required redundancies.
Major General Gardiner told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report that sometimes the terms of defence force chiefs are extended, although the Government in this case has chosen not to.
But he says there are reasons to do so in the case of Lieutenant-General Jones, as a restructuring of Defence is not yet complete.
