Originally Posted by
Ignatius Piazza w/ Front Sight Training
The lowest level of competence is what we refer to as the I I, which stands for Intentionally Incompetent. These are the people who know they need training but they lack the courage and the motivation to get it. They actually avoid training because in exposing themselves to training, they expose their inadequacies to their peers and they fear THAT greater than death itself.
Fortunately we don’t see the I I at Front Sight very often. I can count on one hand the number of times we have in the last 10 years. In each case, they were sent to us— by their department or by someone who was concerned that this person needed training and just wasn’t getting it.
The I I does not want to be here. They waste our time, they waste your time. I tell you about them simply because they are out there and you should avoid them like the plague! Because if you count on the I I when the chips are down, they will take you right to the grave with them.
Then, for no fault of their own there is the U I, which stands for Unconsciously Incompetent. These are the people, (again, for no fault of their own) Who Do Not Know…That They Do Not Know. Unfortunately U I’s make up about 99% of the gun owning population!
Now I realize that’s a shockingly high figure for many of you to comprehend. Understand that the vast majority of the gun-owning population have never been in a lethal encounter of any kind. If they had, then they would know that in a real gunfight, you are going to be about Half As Good as you are on your best day on the range, simply from the stress of someone trying to take your life.
This is why all our courses at Front Sight involve a live-fire tactical training simulator. A simulator that’s as close to a real gun fight as we can make it without anybody getting physically hurt. And it’s in those simulators that you will gain a full understanding of the Five Levels of Competence and know you need to train twice as much— so when faced with a lethal encounter, your “half as good as your best day on the range” is still more than enough to win! Sadly, 99% of the gun owning population does not know what I just shared with you.
Let me give you some examples of the U I:
The police officer, who only fires his weapon for mandatory range qualification 2 or 3 times a year is Unconsciously Incompetent.
Military personnel, especially the Reserve Units and National Guard Units, who have not had the opportunity to train with their weapons or live ammunition in the last six months or year, yet are quickly called up and sent off to battle. They too are Unconsciously Incompetent.
The hunter, who buys the brand new high powered rifle, books the African safari and when the hunting guide places him within 75 yards of a trophy animal, he misses the shot— or worse wounds the animal and now you spend the rest of the day tracking large, dangerous, wounded game. He too, is Unconsciously Incompetent.
Then there’s the gun owner, who thinks— without having any type of training like we offer here at Front Sight— that simply having a pistol and a box of ammunition is all he needs for protection should he hear breaking glass in the middle of the night. He is also Unconsciously Incompetent.
This even extends to all those people who have a Concealed Weapon Permit, but have only taken that mandatory eight hours course that the County required. Six of those hours spent talking about where and when they can legally carry a gun, a few hours with some minimal training and a very minimal skills test. Now they’re out there on the street; carrying a gun; thinking that should someone step up to try to take their life, they have all the tools they need to protect it. They, too, do not know what they do not know…
Now Why Is It…That I Know So Much…About The U I?
Well it’s because I was the biggest U I.
I was the gun shop owner’s best friend. If a new gun came out on the cover of Guns and Ammo, I would immediately run down to my local gun shop and buy two; complete with all the accessories they could sell me. I viewed these guns as collectables and art objects, not as tools or weapons.
Then one day, a relatively minor incident made me aware of my incompetence and I immediately graduated to the next level of competence! I was now Consciously Incompetent. I Knew I Did Not Know And I Knew I Needed Training!
Well not everyone is as lucky as I was. Sometimes, that sudden realization that you do not know is quickly followed by your opponent’s attack. And if that attack involves lethal force, the only reason you’ll survive is because on that day, at that time, your opponent is a bigger U I than you are! Who wants to bet their life on those odds? I certainly did not.
So Front Sight’s Senior Purpose; the reason we exist; the reason we’re building this facility; the reason we invite you all to come out and train with us is because We Want To Reach this 99% of the gun owning population and bring them here to Front Sight where they can safely and immediately reach the level of knowing that they need training.
Because here at Front Sight everyone is a student and this is where we can help them.
Now when students arrive at Front Sight our next purpose is to validate their awareness that they need and want training and provide them with a curriculum that will quickly bring them up to the level of Consciously Competent because at this level they are now better than 99% of the gun owning population but must consciously think about everything that they do with their weapon.
Further practice and training will elevate their skills to the next level— the highest level…And for those of you in the room here who are the ultimate achievers; Front Sight’s purpose extends to assist you in reaching your highest level of competence. That would be Unconsciously Competent.
At the Unconsciously Competent level your weapon craft skills, your tactics, your mindset all become reflexive.
Now please realize that even at the Unconsciously Competent level— in a real gunfight— you’re still only going to be half as good as you are in your best day on the training range simply from the stress of someone trying to take your life. But half as good at the Unconsciously Competent level is miles above that U I that you’re likely to meet on the street. That not only ensures you’ll survive; it ensures that you’ll win and that’s why we’re here: To make sure that our students, should they ever need to use a weapon to defend their lives or the lives of their loved ones, will in fact win.
Five Levels of Tactical Competence
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