Stephen Pineau is a competitive shooter, firearms instructor and the President/CEO of 21st Century Gunfighter. Based out of Denton, Texas, Stephen has an extensive shooting resume and, at the age of 23, has established himself as one to be watched in the arena of 3-Gun and USPSA competition. With dozens of first-place finishes to his credit at the state and local level, his performance remains consistent at some of the most notable competitive settings in the country - routinely placing in the top 10% of shooters at major matches.   

In 2010, Stephen founded 21st Century Gunfighter, LLC. With roots in practical and realistic training for individuals across the entire landscape of the shooting community, the company is dynamic in nature – offering custom AR’s and AK’s as well as active product development.

Stephen is currently a Senior at the University of North Texas, where he is on track to graduate with Honors in Spring 2012 with a Bachelors in Criminal Justice. He will be pursuing a career in the U.S. Marshals Service and plans to continue teaching throughout his prospective law enforcement career. 

As an instructor, shooter and student of self-defense, I had come into contact with the Combat Focus Shooting program on several occasions. Long before I ever met Rob or took a class, I was a believer in many of the concepts taught by the CFS. I had some questions, but much of what I understood I adopted into my own training at the time.

In July of 2011 took my first end-user course in Altoona, PA. While I thought I had a grasp on the program and its methodologies prior to then, that two-day course entirely changed my outlook on defensive shooting. I knew at that point that I wanted to pursue an instructor certification for the Combat Focus curriculum – my students deserved to have their eyes opened in the way mine were.  Through the process of becoming an instructor, I have found an ever-growing list of reasons of what draws me to the program. 

As I have seen it, the trend in firearms instruction within the industry has increasingly moved towards what “looks cool”, with the justification of “because ‘so-and-so’ said to do it this way”. I chose to become a CFS Instructor because I wanted to teach a curriculum that was validated and proven by empirical evidence, grounded in the understanding of the body’s natural reactions under dynamic stress and, above all, increased my students survivability in a dynamic critical incident. Combat Focus Shooting is centered on training for exactly that context. I wanted to teach a program that wasn’t stagnated – one that was evolving. Above all, however – what I enjoy the most about teaching the Combat Focus program is the ability to answer the “why”? When explaining a technique to an individual who may be unfamiliar with the program or clarifying a concept for a student in a class, the reasoning behind ever facet of the CFS curriculum can be explained through logic, scientific research and empirical evidence.