Liberty,
No doubt the 3K/year would be worth a year of seniority if the airlines are your goal.
As far as the hours discussion...
I'd be careful about perpetuating each other's bias and opinions and choosing a course of action based on them.
I'm not claiming to be some hiring guru, so use my opinion along with other sources. I'm pretty confident that total hours are not the only factor in an airline deciding to hire a military pilot or not. It's part of the picture but there's more to it. Obviously each airline is unique and no one really knows what goes on behind the green door unless they have a good source.
I think the assumption that 3K fighter guys and 6K heavy guys are going to be hired first, ahead of others is not accurate. Waiting to get your total time to some arbitrary number if you already meet the minimums is not a good idea. A current military pilot retiring with hours commensurate with his 20 years of service and MDS is going to be competitive based on more factors than just his hours. Your networking and recommendations are probably going to carry just as much weight if not more.