Actually, I know when there were enough ex-military that Southwest "Loved" ex-military guys and would still prefer them if there were enough floating around - ask the guys that have been there 5+ years and you will find a high percentage of ex-military. Now, since there aren't enough qualified ex-military to hire they will look elsewhere. Delta (when I got hired there in 2000) had very high (over 80%) ex-military composition.