Yes, and no. The military pilots come with assumed characteristics which include high quality selection and training. Some have also used a lot of military leave. Some have observed a lot of bracketing of vacation and sick leave with military leaves of absence, which has led to some grumbling by people who matter. ( not that I have a concern ... it means more people on the seniority list ... just providing SA )

As others have pointed out, the regional guys have already been flying Delta passengers and in some cases, their HR records are already on Delta's computers. In some cases, the regional guy's Chief is already a Delta manager or a former Delta manager ... resulting in their characteristics being pretty well known to Delta also.

Your post was really well written and exactly the way applicants should approach the opportunity. Just providing some situational awareness, ie, don't ask the question several have asked in the past, "if I came to Delta, how long would it be before I could go out on leave?"