By Lance Cpl. Brian Bolin Jr., 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit

CEIBA, PUERTO RICO — “I’ve been shooting competitions now for a while. I’ve never seen an accident,” said U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Myles Days, a native of Smyrna, Tennessee and an infantry squad leader with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Littoral Combat Force-24. “This was a really uncommon, unlucky, situation and we all turned out lucky there were people there who knew how to help.”

Days witnessed a civilian struck by a ricochet during a shooting competition at Flatwoods Outfitters in Jacksonville, North Carolina. He sprinted 100 meters to apply a tourniquet to the casualty’s leg. While simultaneously arranging for emergency medical services, he dressed the wound and continuously monitored the casualty’s status.

“I just got done shooting; I was punching my mags. The guy that was running the shot timer was a bit of an older guy and I looked over to see him limping. I thought he might’ve hurt his back or something but I’m looking and I see his leg from the knee down, it’s just covered in blood,” Days said. “I pull a tourniquet off my belt, and I prepped it as I’m running over. I put it on him and I checked his pulse. Noticing he still had a pulse in his leg, I put another one on.”

Days noted after checking the distal pulse of the injured man that one tourniquet wasn’t effective and another, taken from a fellow Marine nearby, was applied. He goes on to say that he and a U.S. Navy Corpsman also in attendance rendered aid until civilian medical services arrived on scene.

“In the event, we were shooting steel targets on a Texas Star, part of the target falls off onto the ground,” Days said. “It’s really uncommon for anything to ricochet off that but I guess he caught a fragment that just entered his leg perfectly and cut one of his veins. Just a really unlucky, unfortunate situation. I just had the training to help him”

Days commented about how he and his Marines are trained extensively to efficiently apply tourniquets as quickly as possible.

“It was really just second nature. I went into it like I was doing a tourniquet drill,” Days said. “I’ve been doing them for three years now, since I was a junior Marine. I just snapped into work mode. It was instinctive really.”

Cpl. Myles Days, a Combat Life Saver certified Marine, spoke on the importance of preparation and training. From basic training in tactical combat casualty care received by all Marines, to CLS qualifications and beyond, Cpl. Days stressed the importance of training and always being prepared to act on that training. He specifically quotes U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Aldo Gongora, an infantry specialist with Plans, Policies & Operations. “As Master Sgt. Gongora said at the 2025 Annual Rifle Squad Competition, ‘Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,’” Days quoted. “That pretty much sums up what happened. Ultimately, it was my preparation and the opportunity to be there to save someone’s life.”

Cpl. Days was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his actions on that day.