Agree on almost all of that, but BUIS on my red-dotted ARs is a must. I routinely practice stripping the optic off in a failure (ARMS QD mount) and flipping up the backup sights.
If you still have the eyes, practicing with backup iron sights is essential.
“but BUIS on my red-dotted ARs is a must”
I completely agree with you there. What if your batteries fail, and you can’t replace them? What if a (ok, REALLY a stretch here), EMP occurred?
I think you should have iron sights before anything, and learn to shoot with them.
I love my Troy Battle Sights.