Shielding a fellow solider from a live grenade has seen Mike Marvin honoured as part of the New Zealand Bravery Awards.

The New Zealand Defence Force Acting Warrant Officer Class 2 is being awarded the New Zealand Bravery Medal for an act of bravery for a live firing incident in 2020.

Mike, who was a Staff Sergeant, was conducting the role of safety supervisor during a grenade throwing practice at the New Zealand Defence Force Raumai Range on June 18.

The aim of the exercise was to re-qualify soldiers on the operation of the hand grenade, says an awards statement.

During this activity, Mike stood opposite the soldiers being requalified, observing their drills and handling of the grenades in removing the pin, throwing action and ensuring the thrower assumed a position behind the range safety barricade prior to detonation.

He carried out his checks of a junior soldier who approached to carry out their grenade throwing drill.

He asked the soldier to confirm their intended target on the range. With checks completed, he instructed the soldier to throw the grenade.

The soldier removed the pin, took a throwing stance and released the grenade in a misthrow.

The grenade landed dangerously close to the thrower at a distance of no more than 1.5m and did not clear the natural rise that afforded the area of cover and safety during detonation.

Michael immediately reacted realising that the grenade had not cleared the top of the mound.

He yelled 'drop grenade” and tackled the soldier rearward into a small depression in the ground around 1m below and about 4m away from the grenade, smothering the soldier with his body, thereby providing a shield from the blast.

He says his training kicked in immediately.

'Safety instructors are trained what to do when there is a misthrow. We often practise a dropped grenade scenario, although the real thing had never happened to me before.”

The grenade exploded but Mike didn't realise he had been injured until about 15 minutes later.

'At the time we were all concentrating on the soldier I took down as they were in a lot of pain because I landed on them.

'Someone asked me if I was OK and I lifted up my top and saw I was bleeding.”

He received fragmentation blast injuries. Eight steel balls from the grenade are still in his lower body as they are too deep to be removed.

However, he says he wasn't in much pain and has had no after-effects.

The former British Army soldier who has been in the New Zealand Army for 14 years and is a Master Driver for 1(NZ) Brigade, said he was grateful for the safety training he has received.

'I suppose there was a bit of luck in it too, but training certainly pays off.”

No blame could be attributed to the soldier, he says.

'It was just a one-in-a-million incident – it just went wrong.”